Altered
by Pulsari
Summary: When moving to confront Fist on the whereabouts of Tali, Shepard and her team find that someone else got to Fist before them. Who is this mysterious, shadowy vigilante and can they provide assistance against Saren and beyond.
1. Contact

**Chapter 1: Contact**

* * *

Shepard, Wrex and Ashley moved towards the entrance to Chora's Den. They had to find out what Fist knew about the quarian, who had evidence against Saren.

As they reached the door, a stench came through.

"Smells like burnt flesh", Wrex laughed. "Like someone's having a barbecue."

"Can it, Wrex", Shepard replied and proceeded to open the door.

They all froze.

All the guards Fist had at the club were already lying dead or unconscious on the floor.

Most guards had one or both of their hands severed and some had stab wounds on their chests as well. The krogan bouncer particularly had seen better days. Despite the gruesome look, there was no blood anywhere, as each wound was completely cauterized. The cauterization was also the source of the stench they smelled.

Ashley spoke up first, with a hint of fear in her voice: "what happened to these people?"

"Someone got here before us", Shepard said. "Let's hope Fist isn't in same condition."

They examined few of the bodies more closely and Shepard noticed something.

"The unconscious ones weren't armed and their hands haven't been severed", She started. "Whoever did this isn't blindly killing everyone. We didn't see anyone coming out, maybe they are still here."

* * *

They moved to a warehouse area, where they saw several warehouse workers, unconscious but otherwise unharmed. As they approached Fist's office, they heard no commotion inside.

Shepard hoped they weren't too late and opened the door.

They saw Fist on the floor covering before a dark figure. The figure was completely clad in black. Boots, trousers, trench coat, gloves and even a hood that completely hid it's face apart from a pair of glowing eyes.

What was more unusual, was that while the clothing was indeed black, it also appeared to drain light around its immediate vicinity.

Shepard and others readied their weapons and she yelled "wait!". The figure turned to face them, but made no move attack or anything that signified aggression. As the figure turned, Shepard noticed two slightly curved objects, that looked like sword hilts, holstered on the figure's belt. After a brief moment, the figure said: "Fist is popular tonight, apparently". The voice was clearly a male voice, but it also sounded like it was... Shepard couldn't describe it in any other way. It was as if his voice was burning.

Wrex stepped in "Shadow Broker wants him dead", he pointed towards Fist. "and no one takes my contract from me".

"Why would the Shadow Broker care about him, simply a thug", the figure asked.

"He was an agent for the Broker, but he betrayed him", Wrex replied although he sounded slightly annoyed that he would need to explain himself.

The figure clearly wasn't expecting that. He stood quiet for a while until he turned towards Fist and bluntly said "idiot". He then turned back to face Shepard and continued "You're the famous Shepard; how does someone like you get mixed with a Krogan mercenary?"

"Have you heard about the geth attack on Eden Prime?", she asked.

"Of course", the dark figure replied. "A geth attack on one of the oldest and largest human colonies isn't exactly small news."

"The attack was organised by a Spectre, Saren. But the Council won't believe it. We heard about a quarian who has hard proof against Saren, but she's on the run from Saren's men. She was going to give the proof to the Shadow Broker in exchange for protection."

"So she came to Fist, who at the time was an agent for Broker, but got a better offer from Saren and betrayed the Broker. Now you're here to find out where the quarian is", the figure finished.

Shepard replied with a slight nod. The figure turned back to Fist and continued:

"I recommend you tell her. Now."

"She's not here, I don't know where she is, that's the truth", Fist said quickly.

"He's lying", Ashley stated.

"Yes, he is" the figure agreed.

"The quarian isn't here, she said she'll only deal with the Shadow Broker himself", Fist said.

"Face to face? Impossible, even I was hired through an agent", Wrex said and moved in closer.

Fist slowly stood up and continued "No one meets the Shadow Broker. Ever. But she didn't know that. I said I'll set up a meeting, but it won't be him, it will be Saren's men."

"Give me the location. Now", Shepard said with a threatening tone.

"Here on the Wards, back alley behind the markets. If you're fast you can make it there in time."

"I know the place. Let's go." The figure said and moved towards the door. "All yours, Wrex", he added.

Fist yelled "Nooo...!", which was cut short by the sound of shotgun fire.

Shepard's team moved towards the door as well and she asked from the figure "Are you coming as well?"

"You think I'm going to stand still and let innocent blood flow? Think again", came the reply.

* * *

Shepard, Wrex, Ashley and the figure arrived at the alleged location, where the quarian's deal was supposed to take place. The figure whispered quietly, but audibly "we need someone on the other side", he pointed to the other end of the alley.

Shepard replied "There's no way we are getting someone there without being seen."

"I beg to differ."

"How exactly...", she turned to face him, but the figure had vanished.

"Damn it!", she cursed to herself. She proceeded to look towards the alley, where she saw the quarian being approached by a group of turians and salarians.

"Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?", the quarian asked.

"They'll be here. Don't worry", one of the turians replied.

Sensing a trap, the quarian quickly said "no way, the deal's off."

The salarians drew their weapons, but they didn't notice the concussive grenade that the quarian had thrown on their feet. The explosion sent them flying. Shepard, Wrex and Ashley took care of the turians before they could draw their weapons.

What Shepard, her team or the quarian didn't notice was a lone turian assassin standing in the shadows.

The assassin moved in and quietly said with malicious tone: "suit rat. You're de.. "

-a dark red sword blade emerged from his chest, accompanied with a hissing sound similar to when hot metal is submerged into water. Simultaneously, there was another flash of red, and the turian's weapon fell on to the floor, with his now-severed hand still gripping into it.

Shepard looked and saw the same dark figure behind the turian. The figure then said quietly, but audibly "she'll stay alive, thank you."

The turian tried to answer, but all that came out was barely audible whining.

The figure finally pulled his sword back and the turian collapsed onto the floor without another sound; the wound on his back was still smoking.

Now Shepard got a good look at the figure's sword for the first time. The shape of the blade reminded her a little bit of the old sickle swords, where the blade first bent slightly downwards, then back upwards. At first she thought the red colour was simply turian blood, but she quickly remembered that turian blood wasn't red and the blade had an odd shimmering effect.

She deduced that blade had to plasma or some other form of energy. Her suspicion was confirmed the dark red blade vanished in a shower of sparks and the figure holstered the hilt back to his belt.

With angry tone, the quarian yelled: "Fist set me up! I knew he couldn't be trusted!"

"Are you alright, young one?", the figure asked. "I can take care of myself!", the quarian replied with an angry tone. She calmed down and added "but thank you for saving me. w-who are you people?"

"you have something the commander needs", Ashley said with a demanding tone.

"you have proof about Saren, we need it", Shepard added.

"then I can repay you for saving me", the quarian replied. "my name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. On my travels i heard chatter about geth movement and i got curious. I found a group of geth, managed to isolate one of them and disabled it. Before it's data core erased itself i managed to get this audio file."

She brought up her omni-tool and played the file:

"Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit!", Saren's voice said in the recording.

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers.", an unknown female voice said.

"the first voice was Saren's", Shepard said. "But I don't recognise the second voice. And what are the Reapers?"

Tali said: "according to the recording, they are an advanced machine race, that existed 50 thousand years ago and played a part in Prothean extiction. The geth believe them to be gods."

"If that is true...", Shepard started "We need to bring Tali to a safe place."

"Human embassy", Ashley suggested. "Udina will want to hear this anyway"

* * *

All five began moving towards the elevator that would take them to the Presidium. Once in the elevator, Shepard asked from the figure: "how about you?".

"You're going to go after Saren. If you'll allow it, I'd like to join your team on your hunt."

"But why, to me you seem like a vigilante, who works alone."

"And you're right, deep down I am a vigilante, someone who sees himself on the 'good' side, despite having often very excessive measures. Saren has attacked Eden Prime. He has already betrayed the Council. Regardless if you truly needed me or not, if I did nothing, would regret that much more. And if the Reapers are real and they are coming back to destroy us, you would need every single one who is capable of fighting."

"You have a point in that..", Shepard started.

"Shepard", Ashley said quickly. "Can we trust him? I mean we just met him and now he is offering to join us. What if.."

Shepard raised her hand to interrupt Ashley "So did Garrus and Wrex. And you saw how Chora's Den looked. If he wanted to harm us he could have done that hundred times over by now."

"Being cautious is healthy. To an extent.", the figure started. "but your commander is right. If I truly wanted to harm you, I wouldn't bother to go through any elaborate plan to pretend to be on your side and strike at an opportune moment."

"You would just do it", Wrex said.

"Indeed."

They arrived at the corridor that led to Udina's office. Garrus and Kaidan were already waiting by the door.

"Then, welcome to the team", Shepard said to the figure.

"I appreciate it. And in that case, my name is Jaden", came the reply.

"Good to have you Jaden", said Shepard and shook hands with him. "these are Kaidan. Garrus. Wrex. Ashley."

Jaden turned to face each of them and gave a slight nod as they were introduced to him.

* * *

They stepped inside Udina's office, where Udina and Anderson were already waiting. Udina was angry.

"You're not making my life easy, Shepard. Fire fights in the Wards?

An all out assault on Chora's Den? Do you know how many...".

Udina looked at the group.

"Who is this?", Udina asked and looked directly at Jaden.

"And a quarian? What are you up to, Shepard?"

"Just someone providing assistance", Jaden said.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Shepard", Udina said; Jaden's presence seemed to make him slightly nervous. "and the quarian?"

"This quarian can prove Saren is guilty; I would have told you that, if you hadn't jumped my throat", Shepard said sounding annoyed. She didn't like Udina. At all.

"I-I apologise. Maybe we should start from the beginning, miss..?"

"My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya"

"We don't see many quarians here. Why did you leave the flotilla?"

"I was on my Pilgrimage, my rite of adulthood. I began to hear chatter about geth. I was curious. I managed to locate a group of geth, isolated one, disabled it and downloaded this recording".

Tali played the same recording she played in the alley.

"That's Saren's voice." Anderson said.

"The Council can't ignore this!" Udina said "although I'm not so sure about these Reapers."

"They're real" Shepard said with certainty. "the vision, I understand it now."

"We must present this to the Council right away" Udina continued "meet me at the Council chambers." He left the office.

"What about her, the quarian?" Wrex asked.

Tali seemed annoyed "My name is Tali! You saw me in the alley, you know what I can do. Let me come with you."

"What about your Pilgrimage?" Shepard asked.

"The Pilgrimage shows we are willing to give ourselves for the greater good. What would I be if I turned my back on this?"

"all right, you proved your point, welcome to the team. We should go to the Council chambers as well. Before Udina embarrasses us again."

* * *

They made their way to the Council chambers, where Udina was already presenting the proof.

The Council saw the proof as irrefutable and stripped Saren of his Spectre -status. After a lengthy debate, the Council named Shepard as the first "true" human Spectre and gave her the assignment to apprehend or eliminate Saren by any means necessary. It was also revealed that the unknown female voice in the recording was Matriarch Benezia. As Shepard joined her team, who were waiting at the bottom of the stairs, she received congratulations from all of them. Udina told Shepard to meet him in his office after he and Anderson had obtained a ship and supplies for her.

"Okay, Udina wants to meet me in his office. First, here's our comm channel" Shepard said and brought up her omni-tool. Others did the same. Shepard couldn't but notice, that Jaden's omni-tool was dark red and had two black stripes across it, rather than the usual orange. She was going to ask but decided, she would do so later.

"Jaden, Garrus, Wrex, Tali, if you have some personal belongings you want to bring with you, now is the time to go get them. Then meet with us at C-sec academy."

* * *

Sometime later Shepard, Kaidan, Ashley and Tali were leaning against a wall at C-sec, waiting for the remaining three to arrive.

Garrus was the first to arrive. He had nothing new on him, except a fine-looking turian sniper rifle.

"Sniper, huh", Shepard commented.

"My favourite weapon type", Garrus replied with a smirk.

"We'll have to see who's better", Shepard remarked and tapped her own rifle that she had on her back.

Jaden was the second to appear from one of the elevators. He had a small bag of his personal items and his energy swords were still holstered on his belt, on both sides of the buckle.

He also had three additional weapons: two identical SMGs that were holstered on his sides and a larger weapon on his back.

What was unusual about these SMGs, was that they had magazines, rather than internal ammo blocks. The magazines were loaded with small red crystalline shards that had a faint glow to them.

The weapon on his back looked completely alien. Shepard assumed to be a type of sniper rifle.

Jaden greeted them as he reached them and Shepard said "Just Wrex to go."

"Should be here shortly" Jaden replied. "Said he needed to see Barla Von about something."

A moment later: "ah, there he is."

Finally, Wrex joined the group. He had nothing new with him, just his trusty shotgun.

"Okay, we're all here" Shepard started. "Anderson gave the command of the Normandy to me. It's an experimental stealth-frigate. Fast and quiet, a perfect ship for a Spectre. Udina also told me that Benezia has a daughter by the name of Liara T'Soni, a Prothean expert. He and Anderson believe that she has no part in Saren's and Benezia's plan, but they still recommended we find her, if she knows anything. She is currently in a dig site somewhere in Artemis Tau cluster."

They stepped into the elevator that would take them to Normandy's docking bay.

* * *

After the lift began to move, Ashley asked "So Jaden, how did you disappear at the alley behind the marketplace? Like you were behind us at one point and suddenly you appear behind that turian as you killed him."

Jaden seemed slightly annoyed, as if he didn't want to show them, but went with it anyway.

"Like this" he said with his ever-burning voice and for a very brief moment it looked as if his black clothing turned into liquid glass and then he was no more. After a while, the liquid glass form appeared again and quickly turned back into the black clothing and Jaden stood exactly on the same spot as before.

"What about your weapons? I've never seen anything like them" Shepard asked. Garrus, Wrex and Ashley raised their heads a little when Shepard asked her question. They were interested to hear it as well. Tali and Kaidan were interested too, although not to the same extent as the others.

"You really are curious aren't you? All right then. You already know my energy swords. The blades are made of contained, concentrated plasma so energetic they can slice through practically anything, almost instantly. The SMGs are known as 'Detonator' -type SMGs, which despite their small size, have quite a lot of power in them. And the weapon on my back is known as 'Thunderbolt' -Sniper. You would call it a sniper rifle, although technically it's not a rifle."

"Can't wait to see them in action."

"You will, eventually, although my swords are my primary weapon, believe it or not."

Afterwards the topic switched to the upcoming mission until they reached their destination.

Apart from Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan, the others saw the Normandy for the first time.

"Hmm, human-turian design" Jaden remarked "likely developed cooperatively as an attempt to warm up relations between your species."

"It looks incredible" Tali said in amazement.

Together, as a team, they walked inside the Normandy.

* * *

My first story, please be gentle. ^^

Hopefully there aren't too many mistakes, English isn't my primary language.

I tried to make him look mysterious, so I referred to him as "figure" so many times, bear with me.

Despite the "hood and glowing pair of eyes", he is NOT a quarian.

Assumption is that readers already have some knowledge about the ME universe


	2. Departure

Chapter 2: Departure

* * *

"In less than an hour... We will begin the largest and most difficult mission any of us have ever been on."

"This began with an attack on human settlement. But we know Saren will not stop there."

"He and his geth armies will not stay away from Citadel space."

"Saren isn't a threat just for humanity, Saren is a threat to every species that is out here."

"It is our task to stop him."

"I don't know what challenges we face ahead of us, what dangers await us."

"But what I know is, we will overcome any obstacle. We will see this to its end."

"Together we can, and we must, succeed!"

"Well spoken, Commander", Joker commented as Shepard finished her speech. "Captain would be proud."

"Not if we mess this up", Shepard started "Begin pre-flight checks, Joker"

"Yes ma'am!", Joker replied.

* * *

Shepard left Joker at the cockpit and moved over to her team, who were standing in front of the Galaxy Map. Some gave her a nod of approval regarding her speech.

"We will be leaving soon", she started "Does anyone have any special requirements? Garrus and Tali will obviously require Dextro rations. But other than that? Jaden, Wrex?"

"All I require is a location of solitude, a place I can call my own", answered Jaden.

"Of course, you'll all get private cabins."

"That will be adequate."

"Aah, krogan can thrive anywhere", Wrex remarked. "Just make sure no one disturbs my slumber."

* * *

Afterwards they all retreated to their designated cabins. Later, Shepard went to visit each member individually, to get to know them better.

In his cabin, Jaden placed his Thunderbolt rifle on one of the tables and symmetrically placed one Detonator SMG on both sides of the rifle.  
But his Energy Swords, he would always keep with him.

He removed the magazines from the SMGs and had just taken out the trigger circuits from all three weapons, when the door opened, revealing Shepard who entered.

"Ah, Commander, need something?", he started and leaned against the wall next to the table.

"Just getting to know the crew.", she paused momentarily "I'd be lying if I said you aren't interesting. I have never seen anyone like you, you have weapons no one has even seen. And you're 'just' a vigilante?"

"I know I'm being mysterious which naturally creates interest and you have a lot of questions. About me. About what I do. You also know I can't, or won't answer most of your questions. It is who I am unfortunately."

A pause.

"But know this; for some time I've done what you saw at Chora's Den. There are malevolent people out there who believe themselves invulnerable. I prove them wrong. Without hesitation, without mercy. I wanted to come with you as Saren poses a threat, not just to humanity. Not just to any one species. But to everyone."

Another pause.

"But do not worry, you are the commander on this task and I'm with you. To the end. Remember that."

Shepard pondered his words for a while. It was obvious that Jaden was dangerous, especially to those he deemed 'malevolent', but he also has a code he follows. And he was ready follow her lead.

"I take it means you don't have problems following orders?", she finally said.

"Long as they aren't bad orders", Jaden replied; his voice had a hint of amusement. Shepard could almost swear he was smirking under his hood. "But seeing as how others follow you, we probably won't be having that problem."

"What about the hood, are you always going to hide your face under the hood?"

"Yes. And do not ask me to reveal it. Ever." He said it with a voice that wasn't threatening or aggressive, but it was absolute.

"Allright, thanks for your time either way.", Shepard said, turned and prepared to leave.

"Any time. Although you may have not gotten answers you came for, but don't be a stranger either."

Shepard left without replying, though she made a note in her mind. Jaden returned to the table and began to work on his weapons.

Many hours later Shepard called over the intercom: "Ashley, Garrus, Jaden, Kaidan, Tali, Wrex. To conference room. Pressly has determined the location of T'Soni."

* * *

 **Notes**

* * *

 _Much shorter chapter this time, but with more notes._

 _"Pressly has determined the location of T'Soni.". Think we know what that means._

 _I got questions from "brandonack96", who was asking about Virmire, Citadel and the Rachni queen._

 _My plan is to have the queen live. I'm not yet completely sure about Virmire, let alone Citadel (I presume with Citadel you meant the part in ME3)_

 _As of now i didn't receive other questions, but under is a little bit of info._

 _The intention is to go through the events of the games (not to the same degree as some of true novelizations I've read):_

 _Most of the side missions will be omitted, though they may be referenced in some way (eg. "how was planet x?" or "anything special in ...")_

 _The important events should play out, but in altered ways, as the name implies._

 _(though honestly, i couldn't think a better name so i named it 'Altered', because that's what it does, alters.)_

 _Shepard is supposed to be an infiltrator and close the default look (maybe add red hair and change iris colors)_

* * *

 _===========If anyone is curious about Jaden's weapons:_

 _The Energy Swords are obviously inspired by the lightsaber  
(though i imagined the blades would look much more like an actual sword, rather than a straight shaft of energy)._

 _The Detonator -SMGs are weapons that apparently use crystalline shards as ammunition._

 _The Thunderbolt, a long range sniper type weapon that looks completely alien._

 _The SMGs (they are identical between each other and he has two) and the sniper weapon draw inspiration from two different sci-fi FPS series._

 _One hint: in both series, the protagonist wears some kind of suit._

 _I'll reveal which when Jaden has used them at least once._

* * *

 _===========Under is some overall info about Jaden, something that might be considered as mild spoilers, so read at your own discretion=============_

* * *

 _So, Jaden._

 _He is a random mix between Jedi, Sith, Ghost rider and a Red Lantern. Plus more. Even though some of those groups are evil in their own universe,  
Jaden isn't meant to be evil._

 _Or at least he doesn't see himself as evil._

 _He is meant to be what i think as "Chaotic good/neutral" -alignment: He is on the 'good' side, but with often ruthless and/or merciless ways._

 _His black, light-draining clothing, is only a disguise. Why he is disguised, will be revealed in future._

 _When it comes down to pure power and abilities, he is much stronger (by a few orders of magnitude) than anyone else in the team._  
 _But i wouldn't want to make this into something where he would just wave his hand and destroy any enemy etc, So he is unwilling (or too afraid) to use his abilities to their maximum potential. Although if something really provokes him (remember the Red Lantern part), he might lose it for a short while._  
 _He is NOT a biotic, though he possesses abilities that are reminiscent to biotics._

 _I'd say out of anyone in Shepard's team Jaden is most similar to Samara (in fact i have plans to bring them close, when the time comes. Maybe not to a romance, but close)_


	3. Asari in trouble

Chapter 3: Asari in trouble

* * *

They made their way to the elevator, which took them to the cargo bay. There the Mako stood waiting.

Tali asked: "If we're going out in that, should we land somewhere first?"

"That won't be necessary", Shepard said "once Joker brings us to correct altitude, we'll simply perform a Mako jump."

"Mako.. Jump?"

"We will simply drive out from the Normandy, once we are at the point", Jaden said.

Shepard simply nodded to confirm his statement.

"Oh Keelah..." Tali responded, sounding terrified. She clearly wasn't looking forward to it.

They drove out of the Normandy and landed without a hitch. Even Tali survived the drop.

"Got some strange readings", Joker said over the comm "like of the damn charts."

"few clicks north of the drop zone", he finished.

* * *

They began to drive towards their destination. Even though Ashley and Kaidan had lamented how 'bad' Shepard's driving skills were, the ride was actually fairly smooth. Maybe she had taken driving lessons or just didn't want to park the Mako in any of the fiery lakes of lava that surrounded them.

First sign of trouble appeared as they heard a geth drop ship, which then dropped a pair of armatures in their way. Nothing the main cannon and the machine gun of the Mako couldn't handle.

Their second obstacle was an outpost; the entrance was protected by several rocket turrets.

"Going head on would be a suicide", commented Kaidan.

"A secondary entrance would be useful", Jaded added.

They noticed a narrow pathway to their right, which was guarded by only one turret. A turret they took down effortlessly. The Mako, however, couldn't fit completely through so they had to continue on foot. The plan was to open the front entrance and disable the turrets.

Unfortunately there were quite a few geth inside the outpost.

"Jaden, Tali, see if you can open the front gate and disable or destroy those turrets."

"Ashley, Garrus, find good sniping positions and cover us."

"Kaidan, Wrex, you're with me, we are going to open that other gate.", Shepard ordered.

* * *

As soon as the first sniper rounds were fired, the geth were alerted and began to return fire.

Shepard and her group took cover behind some boxes and began to take out the geth that were coming their way.

Simultaneously, Jaden began to run towards the gatehouse, faster than anyone Shepard had ever seen. Tali ran behind Jaden, but obviously she couldn't keep up with him. Multiple geth came out from the gatehouse and took aim at Jaden. Reacting quickly, he took one of his Detonators into his hands and fired at the geth.

Strange metallic 'clink' sounds filled the air.

The small red crystal shards left fast-fading red trails in their wake as they flew through the air.

The shards were much faster than rockets and similar projectiles but slower than regular weapons.

As soon as the shards impacted the geth, they shattered which created powerful explosions strong enough to throw them off their feet and cause serious damage. One more round per geth and they were finished.

Shepard noted that while a single explosion wasn't as strong as her own grenades or the rockets that geth used, the rapid nature of the Detonator SMG was clearly advantageous.

Jaden stopped and turned around to let Tali catch up to him. That's when he saw a geth aiming its rocket launcher right at Tali.

"Tali, get down!", he warned and threw one of his Energy Swords at the geth; the blade activated mid-flight. Nimbly, Tali rolled to the side, avoiding both the rocket and the energy blade.

The rocket flew right past Jaden and his blade cleanly cut the geth in two. Jaden then reached out with his hand and like a boomerang, the sword returned to him. With a Detonator in one hand and the sword in the other, Jaden walked inside the gatehouse. A few more 'clink' sounds followed by explosions, then silence. Tali followed Jaden inside and moments later the gate opened and the turrets became inactive. As they exited the gatehouse, the gate on the other side opened as well and soon after Shepard, Kaidan and Wrex emerged from the other gatehouse.

They returned to Ashley and Garrus, then the whole team returned to the Mako and continued onwards.

* * *

After a tunnel, a few more curves and some destroyed armatures, they were approaching an another tunnel.

"Shepard...", Jaden warned.

"Keelah, Shepard! That's a Colossus!", Tali yelled.

A moment later, the Mako was struck by a large siege pulse, which shook the entire vehicle and literally turned it 180 degrees; they were now facing the direction they came from. That allowed them to drive into cover, but the Colossus was inconveniently placed at the tunnel entrance.

"Okay, that's a problem", Shepard said. "the Mako is strong, but even it can't take many more hits like that."

"The Colossi are heavy variants of the regular armatures. It'll take heavy weapons to take one out.",

Tali said, recalling what she knew about the armatures.

"We could use the Mako's cannon, but it'll put us in danger of being hit by another pulse.", Shepard said.

"Tali, do they have any weak points or ways to disable them?" Jaden asked.

"They need to be damaged beyond repair or their power cores must be destroyed", Tali began "But the core is in the 'chest', under the thickest armor."

"I'd imagine the armor isn't just as thick from the sides. I need to go outside", Jaden said.

"Outside?", Shepard asked.

"Yes. And I need a distraction", Jaden said and took his Thunderbolt into his hands and unfolded it.

This was the first time Shepard got a good look at the weapon. It was definitely a sniper weapon, as Jaden had stated at the Citadel. The barrel composed of two rails with a triangular cross-sections. The scope, which still looked completely alien, was on the left side of the weapon. On top of the weapon, near the scope, there was a small control panel. Behind the scope and the panel, A part of the weapon was covered in small vents. Inside a calm hum could be heard.

"Tali just said it'll take heavy weapons against a Colossus and you're going to take it on with a sniper?", Shepard said in disbelief.

"Have some faith, Commander.", Jaden said and moved his hand to the control panel, where he made some adjustments. The hum intensified to the point where electrical crackling could be heard inside. Jaden stepped out of the Mako and became invisible.

A while later Jaden became visible again about a hundred meters from the Mako.

He said "I could use that distraction now."

Shepard moved the Mako and fired once at the Colossus before retreating back behind cover. Its shields took the shot without any problems and it began to charge another siege pulse.

That's when Jaden acted and fired.

A huge bolt of lightning erupted from his weapon and struck the Colossus right at its chest; the bolt burned through the Colossus entirely. The lightning also arced towards few geth that were too close to the Colossus, destroying them as well. The Colossus collapsed on to the ground with the large hole in its chest still glowing orange. Some geth that were far enough from the Colossus remained undamaged and began to fire at Jaden's position, though he had already become invisible and left the spot.

With the Mako, Shepard took care of the remaining geth.

Jaden returned to the Mako; The Thunderbolt was still emitting steam from the vents, but the hum had returned to normal.

"That... was impressive", Wrex said.

"I'm officially impressed", Shepard added "I can see why you would call it 'Thunderbolt'."

Others were just... dumbstruck.

"Indeed.", Jaden responded. "But don't get too excited. At maximum power like that, I can only fire up to three times. And even at lower power, the lightning tends to reveal my current position. Though it doesn't really bother me because of my abilities.

Jaden waited until the Thunderbolt was no longer emitting steam, then folded it and placed it on his back.

* * *

They continued onwards until they reached a path that was partially blocked by large rocks. The rocks meant that they would have to continue on without the Makp.

They moved through the passage, reaching an opening where they saw several geth sniper towers. Only a moment later, red lasers began to point at their direction.

"Cover!", Shepard yelled. She, Ashley, Garrus and Jaden all took their own sniper rifles into their hands and returned fire. Even at low power, the lightning discharged by the Thunderbolt could still pierce a geth-sized target and as he turned to fire at geth troopers moving towards them, the lightning could also arc to nearby geth, though only momentarily disabling them.

They arrived at the location where Joker had found the 'strange readings', but their troubles didn't end there. A new armature fell from the sky and in addition to regular geth troopers, there were also new type of geth: one that constantly jumped around and could cling onto walls. The armature kept the team behind cover most of the time, while other geth closed in.

Tali focused on hacking and sabotaging the closing geth, while everyone but Shepard, Garrus and Jaden finished what Tali started. Shepard, Garrus and Jaden focused on the new geth 'hoppers'. Hitting such a small and fast moving target posed quite the challenge, though they eventually prevailed.  
As a display of skill, Jaden even took one out mid-jump by throwing his energy sword at the geth 'hopper'.

Finally only the armature remained.

"Mind using the Thunderbolt again?", Shepard asked.

"That would be an overkill", Jaden replied, dual-wielded his Detonators and turned invisible.

Soon, out of thin air, red crystal shards appeared and hit the armature. Jaden fired about twenty crystals at the armature.

This time when the crystals impacted, they didn't shatter or explode, however. They were simply embedded in the armature.

Jaden became visible again behind cover and told others to remain in cover as well. Then he tapped something on his Detonators.

The crystals that were embedded in the armature began to glow red. The glow intensified until it was almost too bright to look at. Then the armature was consumed in a large fiery explosion, that even dug a small crater into the ground. What was left of the armature, was unrecognizable scorched junk.

"All clear", Jaden stated.

They entered the complex.

* * *

After walking downwards who knows how long, the walkway finally leveled and turned into a catwalk. As they entered the large cavernous area, a geth sniper accompanied by few troopers appeared and took aim at the team. This time, Shepard, Garrus and Wrex were first to react and took down the geth, with Wrex using something he calls 'carnage' from his shotgun.

They took the stairs down to the same level as where the geth were.

As they approached an elevator, Wrex remarked "Sterile white. Protheans sure build things homey."

They took the elevator down to another catwalk. About halfway to the second elevator, Jaden seemingly without a reason threw both his energy swords. Few geth drones appeared from underneath just in time to be cut in half by the energy blades, which then returned to Jaden's hands.

* * *

They took the second elevator which broke down just before reaching the bottom. They jumped off. As they landed on the catwalk, they heard a female voice under them:

"uh- hello? Can someone help me?".

They jumped one level down. There they saw an Asari, suspended mid-air behind some kind of barrier. She didn't look too well, which implied she had been there for a good while.

She called out again: "Can you help me? I'm trapped, I need help!"

"Liara T'Soni, I presume?", Shepard asked.

Jaden brought up his red and black omni-tool. From his fingertips, small red lasers were pointing at Liara, moving up and down, from side to side. He was scanning her.

"Yes", She answered. "Listen, this thing is a Prothean security device. I activated the barrier when the geth showed up. But I must have pressed something else too and I became suspended here. Please help me.", she pleaded again.

"Your mother is working with Saren. Whose side are you on?", Shepard asked.

"I'm not on 'anybody's' side! I may be Benezia's daughter but I haven't spoken to her in years. I'm just a Prothean researcher. Please get me out", she started to sound desperate.

"You trust her?", Ashley asked from Shepard.

Of course Ashley would ask that, Shepard thought to herself.

Jaden gave his response: "We were going to get her either way. She has been there for at least six days. No food, water, nothing. Even if she was known to be on Saren's side, she is hardly in condition for questioning."

"Jaden's right. We'll find a way to get you out", Shepard reassured her.

"Careful, there are geth here. And a krogan.", Liara warned.

* * *

"Speaking of the geth", Jaden warned and fired at two geth that were standing in a line by the tents in the distance. The cavernous area was briefly illuminated in white light and both geth collapsed.

Shepard and others took care of the rest and she said to the group: "see if you can find any way to get to the other side of the barrier."

Tali approached a mining laser that was conveniently pointing to the direction of the barrier, a level down from T'Soni's location. "Maybe this helps", she suggested.

After Shepard approved her suggestion, Tali meddled with the controls for a moment. Then, the laser fired and blasted through the rock, revealing a level below Liara's location.

They took the elevator to Liara's level, who didn't believe they actually made it through.

* * *

"How did you get here? I thought there was no way through the barrier", she asked.

"Superior firepower", Shepard replied.

Jaden pressed a button that would disengage the suspension field and Liara's was fell onto the floor. Now that she was free, everyone fully realised the condition she was in; she was barely able to even stand.

"She is ice cold.", Jaden remarked. In mid-air, he did a gesture with his hand, as if he was placing his hand on a table. A strange orange aura appeared around Liara. Even though she was in her own suit, Shepard could feel the warmth that the aura created. At least that prevent her from freezing, Shepard thought.

They got up to the elevator and Liara asked "why would the geth come after me?"

Kaidan answered "Saren's looking for the Conduit. You're a Prothean expert. He probably wants you to help him find it."

"The Conduit? But I don't kn...", the whole cavern shook violently.

"What was that?", Ashley asked.

"These caverns are unstable. That laser must have triggered a seismic event.", Liara answered.

Shepard quickly called Joker over the comm: "Joker! Get the Normandy airborne and lock in our location. On the double, mister!"

"Aye aye Commander, ETA 8 minutes."

"If I die here, I'll kill him", Wrex threatened.

* * *

The elevator moved upwards.

"Incoming", Jaden warned and turned invisible.

As they reached the top, they saw a krogan and a group of geth approaching. A barrier was activated behind them.

"That's a battlemaster, they aren't pushovers", Wrex whispered quietly to Shepard.

The battlemaster moved closer; with a hand gesture, Shepard told her team to wait.

"Surrender. Or don't. That would be more fun.", The battlemaster started.

"What do you want?", Shepard asked though she already knew.

"Hand the doctor over. Saren wants her, anything Saren wants, he gets."

"I think she'd rather stay with us", Shepard replied sarcastically.

"Not an option. Kill them", the battlemaster ordered. "Spare the asari, if you can. If not, won't matter."

The battlemaster and the geth drew their weapons. Then, on the battlemaster's right side near the wall, a burning voice said:  
"All right tough guy. Let's see some action."

Jaden reappeared. The battlemaster twitched slightly; he realized that Jaden was something... different.

"Unless", Jaden continued, lowering his voice "You aren't worth the effort it would take to fight you."

Wrex twitched slightly as well; he knew that those words were more than simply words.

In a fit of rage, the battlemaster charged right at Jaden, letting out a battle cry.

At first it seemed as Jaden wasn't going to do anything to stop the krogan's charge. Shepard looked at Jaden, not believing he would allow the krogan to smash into him.

Then she noticed; Jaden had his right hand behind his back. His hand curled into a fist and simultaneously, strange red energy enveloped his fist.

Just as the battlemaster was about to strike Jaden, he moved faster than humanly possible and punched the battlemaster with his enhanced fist, right into the battlemaster's faceplate.

The impact generated a shockwave that shook the caverns even more violently and knocked everyone else, including the geth, onto the floor, except Wrex who managed to remain standing.

The battlemaster's lower body slumped onto the floor, with yellowish liquid spilling everywhere. The mangled and twisted upper body of the battlemaster was flown on the other side of the area, on the floor, spilling yellowish liquid as well. The barrier seems to have gone inactive too. Shepard and others got up, while Wrex was already dealing with the remaining geth.

* * *

Now the caverns really started to shake.

"Okay, these caverns didn't like that, let's move. Fast.", Jaden said and moved towards the catwalk. Others followed him and Shepard looked down. Lava was starting to flood the lower levels. On the upper catwalk, two geth appeared and took aim at the group.

Without slowing down, Jaden threw his swords at the geth, who miraculously managed to dodge the initial throws. But what they didn't account for, was that Jaden jumped on to the upper catwalk, grabbed his swords while mid-air and slashed at geth again, this time decapitating both geth.

"Jaden!", Shepard yelled.

"I'll deal with them, just get out of there!", Jaden responded

He saw several more geth coming down, firing at him. Apparently they didn't care about the lava rising. Still running upwards, Jaden switched to his Detonators and aimed carefully. He didn't want to miss, not in a place like this. One crystal aimed directly at the center mass of the geth, was enough to take them out.

Finally, at the entrance at ground-level, Jaden turned to face back down and saw the rest running up as fast as they could. Even Liara, despite her ordeal in the suspension field, decided that she wouldn't want to be consumed by lava, and moved as fast as she could.

They all exited and ran towards the Normandy, which Shepard being last, to make sure everyone else makes it. All but Jaden and Shepard had made it into the Normandy when the ground between them and Normandy broke, revealing a river of molten rock. The Normandy rose several meters to avoid being damaged by the lava.

* * *

"Bollocks.", Jaden cursed.

"Damn it!", Shepard cursed as well.

The others who were already on board, shouted them to think something, find a way to get onboard.

"Listen, Shepard.", Jaden started "Do you trust me?"

"Of course."

"I need you to do something. Run towards the lava river, no matter how crazy it seems and jump when I say so."

Shepard inhaled deeply, wishing this wasn't the end, but did what Jaden told her to do.

As she was almost at the edge, Jaden said "Now!".

Shepard jumped and at the same time Jaden moved his hand, as if he was trying to lift something.

Shepard was flung upwards and forward right into the cargo bay of the Normandy.

Jaden himself began to run towards the lava river and right at the edge he jumped, his jump flung him towards the cargo bay and he made it as well. The Normandy closed the cargo bay doors and exited Therum.

* * *

Later, the team had a meeting in the conference room.

Liara expressed her gratitude. She also wished to join the team to take down Saren, which Shepard allowed.

She also offered to help Shepard to understand the visions Shepard received from the Prothean Beacon. But for now she was in need of proper rest.

The rest of the team introduced themselves to Liara.

After the meeting, Shepard contacted the Council, but she didn't like their tone, so she told Joker to cut them off.

* * *

 **pushtrak1** : If there is dialogue from two different characters in the same line (i have to double check it), it's my mistake, not intentional. And thanks for notifying.

* * *

 **Notes**

* * *

 _All right, we got Liara in the team now. And hanging up on the Council, who would have though.  
And yes i know in the game you can actually drive the Mako inside the outpost.  
(You could also drive it through the very narrow passage in the end, but it would take a bit of effort.)  
_

 _This was also the first time where Jaden appears to be more than 'just' a vigilante.  
_

 _Apologies if some parts seem too 'cheesy', like the part where Jaden rescues Shepard or Tali._

* * *

 _If someone is wondering, if anyone in the team ever gets hit by anything. They do but so far nothing serious. And i admit that constantly writing "shields down to x" etc. sounds quite dull to me.  
_

* * *

 _Now that Jaden has used his Detonator SMGs and the Thunderbolt sniper, i might as well reveal their inspirations:_

 _The Detonators are my version of Halo's Needler weapons. The way i imagined it is that the Detonators would look like 'normal' SMGs.  
The shards would be much smaller, faster and non-homing. They could also be fired either singularly where every shards detonates on impact or stacked to large explosion,  
which can be triggered at will, not after a relatively short period of time._

 _The Thunderbolt is my version of the Bolt Sniper in Crysis 3. In Crysis 3, it is a powerful weapon that can take out practically anything, especially if it hits a weak spot.  
This version however, would have a variable power level setting, which can be changed, depending on the enemy Jaden is facing._

 _Jaden can fire his Detonators (Thunderbolt would be too powerful for that, even at low power and the blades of his energy swords would be at least partially visible),  
while invisible, but it puts him under a greater strain than if he was visible, meaning he won't be able to use his other abilities, like telekinesis, to same extent. So most of the time he chooses not to fire while invisible._

* * *

 ** _===============================possibly minor spoiler below===================================  
_**

* * *

 _The way how Jaden's abilities work, is different from regular ME Characters (at least Shepard's team). Normally Shepard has a cooldown on his/her abilities(ME2/3) and others have a global cooldown (if i recall correctly. And Shepard also has a global cooldown in ME1)  
Jaden has a single 'pool of energy' which recharges over time. Different abilities use different amounts of this 'energy', but as long as he has it, he can perform his abilities without any type of cooldown. Though so far at Citadel or Therum, he hasn't even come close to depleting this 'pool'.  
_


	4. Worries and reassurances

Chapter 4: Worries and reassurances

* * *

In his cabin, Jaden sat in a meditative state, hovering several inches above the floor, his hands partially curled into fists. The hilts of his energy swords calmly spun around him, like planets orbiting a star. A knock on the door. Without looking or even opening his eyes, Jaden pointed at the door. The door opened, revealing Normandy's newest blue crewmember.

"Ah, Doctor T'Soni.", Jaden greeted Liara.

"I-I didn't mean to interrupt...", she replied nervously.

"Not to worry, if you were interrupting, I wouldn't have let you in. Meditation lets me focus and perceive even the smallest detail in objects or the environment. Here, observe."

Jaden fully opened his hands and the energy swords came apart, down to the smallest component. What was spinning around him was now more reminiscent to debris field around a planet, rather than planets orbiting a star. He continued:

"My swords are composed of two similar sets of components. But here's a catch: a component from one sword will not be compatible with components of the other sword."

Liara wasn't sure what to expect.

"The power crystal for example...", two glowing white crystal hovered in front of him. "Could you tell which crystal belongs to which sword?"

"I- No.", Liara answered, sounding confused.

"No, you couldn't. But me on the other hand...", Jaden curled his hands into fists and all the components slammed together, recreating his energy swords.

He finally got up.

"So, Doctor T'Soni, what brings you here?"

"Please, call me Liara, 'Doctor T'Soni' sounds too formal.

"All right."

"I just wanted to thank you for getting me out of there. And I simply came to.. talk." She sounded slightly distressed.

"Is something wrong? You sound a little down."

"I-I just feel out of place here on Normandy."

"Is it because you're the only asari here? Or because of your mother's allegiance?"

"Some of the crew are looking at me like I would betray you at any moment. They do not trust me"

"Have you experienced harassment?"

"No."

"Good. If you do, tell Shepard or myself. Knowing Shepard, she doesn't approve that kind of behaviour in her crew. And neither do I in any teams I might be a part of."

She looked slightly happier already. Perhaps not everyone were mistrusting her.

"It would appear that humans aren't often trusting aliens, unfortunately. But at the same time, I can't really blame them either; they have only been at the galactic stage for a few short decades and their first contact with alien life wasn't exactly welcoming. Although seeing as what our team composition is, Shepard doesn't appear to have trust issues."

He continued

"And I heard you already helped Shepard in a smaller mission."

"Yes, we took out a pirate stronghold."

"That was already a test and you proved yourself. Shepard trusts you and so does the rest of the team. Even if they aren't openly admitting it."

Liara seemed to think his words for a while, then she asked:

"And do you..."

"Do I trust you?", Jaden finished. "Yes and I have trusted you since we found you Therum. I've seen what you think."

"You.. have entered my mind?", Liara asked, sounding terrified.

"Not exactly. Entering one's mind without their consent in a great breach of privacy and generally frowned upon."

He continued: "The best way to explain it is that much like how your body radiates energy in the form of infrared radiation, your mind radiates too. Thoughts, emotions, senses, what is at the top of your mind so to speak. I could sense those."

"When we found you, I sensed almost crushing fear in you, about your situation, about the geth, about the krogan battlemaster."

"When you saw us, you felt hope, but also fear, about us, who we are, what we might do to you."

"Overwhelming relief, when you heard that we were there to rescue you, but also shock and sadness upon hearing about your mother."

"And on the Normandy, when you first came aboard, almost indomitable determination."

Liara lowered her head for a moment, Jaden had listed exactly what she had though.

She then said slowly: "I've never heard anyone possessing that kind of ability."

"And you might never hear again. It is an unusual ability"

They stood still for a moment, then Jaden laid his hand on her shoulder and said:

"Do not worry Liara, you'll find your place in the team, just give it ti-". He looked over Liara and saw Shepard behind her. "Ah, Commander."

Liara turned around quickly; there was a faint of blush on her face.

Shepard then said: "I was hoping to find both of you, I'd like to talk to you about something."

"All right, I'm all ears", Jaden responded. Liara stayed quiet.

"Liara, your biotic abilities are phenomenal, but we all know it's risky to rely just on them. They can be disrupted, you can get exhausted. So, while you're here, I'd like you to get some actual weapons training, even if just pistol training. But I think you need an actual weapon in addition to your biotics."

Liara simply nodded in an acknowledgment.

"Which is where I come in, presumably", Jaden said.

"Yes, although you don't need to make it a chore for yourself or Liara. But just help her get some proper experience with firearms."

"You can count on me, Commander". He continued: "though if I'm going to be 'teaching' her, there is something I'd like to get over with right now."

"Which is?"

"She needs a weapon of her own. A sidearm, a weapon she can call her own. A weapon she always carries with her. Much like how you carry your pistol or I carry my energy swords."

"All right, let's go."

* * *

They took the elevator down to the cargo bay, where Shepard and Jaden took every pistol they could find and placed them in a neat line across one of the tables.

"Okay, first simply get a feel on each pistol", Jaden instructed "See, which feels the best to hold in your hands, an uncomfortable weapon can significantly affect your accuracy, believe it or not. Like many say, a weapon should be almost like a natural extension to your hand."

Liara tried every pistol until she found one she liked. Jaden took another pistol from the table and showed Liara the proper stance and then encouraged her to try firing a few rounds at the targets he and Shepard had set up on their left. The first few rounds she fired went all over the place. Jaden fixed her stance a bit and added: "Don't be afraid of the weapon, it won't bite you. Aaahh... well, unless you point at yourself." "Let's try again."

Liara tried again, to a better success, though it was obvious she still had much to learn.

"Much better", Jaden commented. "And in the end, all you need is practice, lots of it. No one began as an expert."

They continued on for some time.

* * *

Shepard had already left Jaden and Liara at the shooting range. She took the elevator to the crew deck and went to see the ship's doctor, Chakwas.

"Commander.", Chakwas greeted Shepard.

"Just checking in", Shepard replied. "we did take some fire on Therum, but everyone got out in one piece."

"I already patched what little scratches some had taken, nothing serious. T'Soni will still require time to recover from her ordeal, though she is much better already compared to when you brought her onboard.", Chakwas was quiet for a long while. "Though I am... maybe not worried but at least curious about one of our crewmember. I believe you know who I'm talking about"

"Jaden."

"He hasn't come here not even once. Not for initial checks, nothing. Though he seems to be doing just fine, but regardless. On top of that, Ashley once told me she hasn't seen him eat or drink anything, ever."

"I don't know", Shepard said. "He is unlike anything I've ever seen. He has some really strange abilities, his handheld weapons can rival or surpass the Mako. On Therum he literally punched a fully armoured krogan battlemaster in two. And yet, somehow I think we have only seen a fraction of what he could do."

Shepard continued

"But he did offer to help us against Saren and he hasn't had any issues following orders, though he often acts quite liberally. He even saved me on Therum."

"Well, if you trust him, I'll take your word for it."

"All right, see you later. "

"Commander."

Shepard returned to her own cabin, still thinking about her conversation with Chakwas and what had transpired on Therum and before. Who, or what is Jaden exactly.

* * *

 **Notes**

* * *

Slightly shorter one again  
Liara is worried about the crew not trusting her and Jaden has more unusual abilities.


	5. Geth and the skyway

Chapter 5: Geth and the skyway

* * *

They approached Feros, where they had heard news of Geth activity from ambassador Udina.

After exiting Normandy they arrived at a flight of stairs. Halfway up the stairs they heard strange noises and several Geth hoppers appeared. They took them out without any problems and proceeded. They arrived at the Zhu's Hope, a small settlement, where one of the human inhabitants forwarded them towards Fai Dan, their leader. Some of the team noted that the people in Zhu's Hope seemed so... absent. After receiving more information from Fai Dan, they were attacked by a group of Geth. After taking them out they heard a Geth dropship.

As they entered the tower where the dropship was hovering above the ground, Jaden was the first to step around a corner. He was immediately hit by a Geth sniper. Several rectangular 'plates' of blue-white energy appeared in front of Jaden as the sniper round hit his shields. The plate that took the hit glowed slightly more brightly than the others and they all soon faded. He quickly reacted and fired his Thunderbolt; the lightning pierced the cover the sniper was hiding behind and the sniper itself.

Shepard had never seen that type of shielding before. She assumed that the plates covered Jaden entirely and their purpose was to either spread the load of incoming attacks, or to allow a single plate to withstand much more than normally possible by redirecting energy from other plates. But she didn't have time to think more than that, as the Geth sniper wasn't the only Geth present, far from it.

She, Ashley and Garrus drew their sniper rifles and got to work, Wrex charged right in, Kaidan and Liara worked their biotics and Tali proceeded to disrupt the Geth with her tricks. Jaden had disappeared but his location soon became apparent, when they heard the telltale sounds of Detonator fire, behind the Geth.

* * *

After a lengthy and heated firefight, they cleared out all the Geth. Shepard then gave out her next orders:

"All right, we dealt with the Geth here, Joker can drop the Mako. Garrus, Kaidan, Liara and Tali, get to the tunnels under Zhu's Hope, see what you can do about the problems Fai Dan told us. Rest of us, we're going to the ExoGeni headquarters with the Mako."

The team separated: Garrus, Kaidan and Tali began descending the stairs while everyone else got to the elevator that would take them up to the garage, where the Mako would be dropped. Once there they saw several Geth drones firing at some colonists. They helped the colonists and afterwards Shepard called the Mako.

They entered and exited the garage.

The Prothean skyway laid before them.

* * *

The first thing Shepard and her team saw, was another Geth dropship dropping several armatures in their way. There wasn't a whole lot of space to maneuver around and falling off the skyway certainly wasn't preferable. As the atmosphere of Feros was suitable for them, Jaden opened one of the hatches of the Mako and provided extra support with his Thunderbolt.

As they drove into one of the buildings, they received some radio chatter: someone could see a vehicle that wasn't Geth. Their vehicle. They exited the Mako and found a small group of ExoGeni refugees, who explained more about the Geth attack. Though one of the refugees, a man named Jeong wasn't really fond of telling them much. Another man, by the name of Gavin, asked them to perform a small task for him at the headquarters.

They returned to the Mako and drove up a ramp to a higher level of the skyway. Once they exited the building, they saw more armatures and Geth troops in their way. Rockets and siege pulses were sent in their way. In return, they sent explosive shells and bolts of lightning back at the Geth.

* * *

When they reached the headquarters, they were blocked by a jammed door. The door was partially open. They could easily fit through, but they would have to leave the Mako behind.

As they approached the door Shepard warned: "My radar's jammed."

After others said the same about their radars, Jaden told them to wait and turned invisible.

A moment later, sounds of fighting and gunfire could be heard from the other side of the door.

It was odd, as usually Jaden could remain completely unnoticed.

One decapitated Geth hopper was thrown outside the door in front of Shepard and the others.

Jaden reappeared next to the hopper and said: "Hoppers. These appear to have a jammer on them. The Geth also seem to have developed a crude technology to detect me while I'm invisible. The technology is crude and unreliable, but it is still noteworthy."

"You're still going to be all right, though?", Shepard asked.

"Oh please. Considering my past, if that was a big problem to me, I would have been destroyed long ago."

* * *

They entered and took care of the remaining Geth. On their left, there was a force field, strong enough for their weapons as it appeared to draw its power from somewhere. In the middle a dropdown that would take them a level below. Finally, the path on the right side led to a small storage room with some lockers and a deactivated armature. As Shepard and Ashley were checking the lockers, the armature suddenly activated and almost instantly opened up with its machine guns. Shepard and Ashley quickly retreated but being that close to the armature took out their shields quickly and they also got directly hit by multiple rounds.

"Get back", Jaden warned and fired his Detonators at the armature. Then he tapped his weapons, which created a large explosion, much like on Therum. The explosion enveloped both Jaden and the armature.

When Jaden joined the others, his shields were still visible from to the explosion. To Shepard, the plates appeared to be dimmer than before. Maybe it was a sign of strain, she thought to herself.

"Everyone allright?", Jaden asked.

"Yeh, the armor managed to stop the rounds.", Ashley responded, though she seemed slightly shaken.

"Thanks for the intervention.", Shepard added.

"Anytime", a pause. "Looks like there is only one way forward."

They jumped down.

* * *

When they entered the large open area, first thing they heard was a gunshot followed by: "Damn it! Damn it."

The shooter was a young woman, who then introduced herself as Lizbeth, daughter of one of the refugees they found on their way to the headquarters. When asked, she told that the Geth were probably there for the Thorian. The Thorian was supposedly a sentient plant.

Jaden then said: "There is more. You know more than this.", He didn't sound any more threatening than usual, but trying to hide something from a being who can sense thoughts wasn't really going to work.

"All right, all right. The Thorian has mind control properties. It spreads out spores, that once inhaled, allows the Thorian to control whoever inhaled the spores, but not instantly. ExoGeni knew this and... allowed the inhabitants of Zhu's Hope to fall under the Thorian's control. I didn't want them to do it, but they threatened me, said I'd be next! That's all I know I swear."

Shepard looked at Jaden, who responded with a calm slow nod. That was all Lizbeth knew.

* * *

After telling Lizbeth to stay safe until they dealt with the Geth, took some stairs upwards, where they found a Krogan, who wasn't getting proper customer service from an ExoGeni VI. While the Krogan was still occupied, Wrex decided to 'prank' the other Krogan with his shotgun.

By using Lizbeth's ID, the VI told them what Lizbeth had already told them, but with more details about the Thorian. Afterwards they arrived at a location where they could see the same force field they saw before; they were now on the other side. At this point they took a detour to perform that little favor Gavin had asked them.

* * *

Finally they arrived in the area where the Geth ship had latched itself on. After clearing the remaining Geth, they began to look for a way to destabilize the ship.

"Jaden, can your swords cut through the claws? Or we could exploit the error in the bay door."

Jaden activated one of his swords, the blade casting its pale red light in the area.

"I may have slightly exaggerated their cutting power. Unless...", like on Therum, strange red energy appeared around his hand and enveloped the hilt of his sword.

Sparks flew from the entire length of the blade and it turned blindingly bright.

Even though Shepard was more than twenty meters away from Jaden, she could feel the radiant heat generated by the overcharged blade.

With a single swift swipe, Jaden cut through the claw like it was nothing.

Cutting just one claw was enough, with metallic screeching, slowly the Geth ship was detached from the side of the building and tumbled towards the surface.

* * *

At this time they got a message from Joker: the people at Zhu's Hope had gone mad and are attacking the Normandy. Shepard told Joker to make sure that the colonists wouldn't get in and tried to contact Kaidan's group. Kaidan reported that after fixing the issues under the colony, the people on Zhu's Hope became more and more distant until they attacked them, forcing them to retreat, back to the tunnels below the colony. They were fine for the time being. Shepard told them to stay put until she and her team got back.

They returned to the room where the force field originally was, now gone. On the other side they found Lizbeth and they all got onboard the Mako. At this point Joker warned them that there were more Geth coming their way. The cleared the Geth in their way and drove back to the building with the ExoGeni refugees. But something was wrong as over the radio they could hear Juliana, Lizbeth's mother, asking for help. Immediately after a male voice, Jeong told her to get off the radio.

Lizbeth demanded the Mako to be stopped so she could get out. Shepard and the others followed her, with Jaden being invisible as usual. They tried to stay hidden but Lizbeth revealed their position, after which Jeong demanded they step forward. After he expressed his disappointment for hoping that the Geth would have killed Shepard. Two security guards were holding Juliana back.

"Comms are back online, ExoGeni wants this place purged.", Jeong said.

"This is a human colony! You can't just re-purpose us!", Lizbeth responded in disbelief.

"It's not just you! There is something much more important here."

"The Thorian.", Shepard finished.

"The what?", Juliana asked

"It's a telepathic life form that exists under Zhu's Hope. ExoGeni knew all the time and allowed the colonists to fall under its control.", Lizbeth explained.

"You won't get away with this Jeong!", Juliana shouted back.

"So you keep saying. No one's gonna miss a few colonists.", Jeong said and pointed at the guards, "Get her out of here!"

"Somewhat... I highly doubt it.", a cold voice came from seemingly nowhere. Until Jaden reappeared between Jeong and the guards that were holding Juliana.

Jeong turned around and the expression on his face was nothing short of horrified. The two guards pointed their weapons at Jaden. A second later, the guards were pointing their weapons at each other, unable to move at all.

At this point Jeong had regained himself a little, pulled out a pistol, pointed it at Jaden and said:

"If that's the way it has to be, then c'mon, c'mon!"

"Shoot me. And you will spend an eternity begging for death.", Jaden's usual glowing white eyes, got a very slight red tint on them.

Jeong was practically frozen in horror.

Jaden then gestured with his hand and Jeong's pistol was crushed into useless scrap.

* * *

At this point Shepard stepped in: "Jaden, wait. Jeong, there has to be another way. Tell them that the Geth destroyed the Throrian."

After Jeong again regained himself he responded: "Yeah, yeah, but the infected colonists can't be here when ExoGeni arrives."

"Leave that to us."

"Wait, you can't just kill them.", Lizbeth protested.

"If there is a another way, we'll take it.", Shepard responded.

"Maybe there is", Juliana said and proceeded to explain about a chemical they had been using in some other experiments. Which could also act as a type of nerve agent. At this point Shepard expressed her concerns about releasing nerve gas. The chemical wouldn't be weapons-grade gas, but potent enough to knock out the infected colonists.

"Yes, a reduced concussion grenade should do the trick", Shepard finally finished.

* * *

She and her group began to walk back to the Mako. That's when Shepard asked Jaden:

"Was all that really necessary?"

"Aah, just wanted to scare him good. He is... a 'bean counter', as you once said. He probably would have missed me even at that distance. But you should have seen his face."

They approached the Mako.

"So, a concussion...", Jaden took one of his Detonators and removed the magazine. The magazine vanished inside his trench coat and he pulled out another. This one was filled with yellow-golden crystals, rather than the usual red.

"Yellow crystals?", Shepard asked.

"Instead of a fiery explosion, these crystals generate a powerful concussive shockwave upon detonation.", Jaden explained. "If we are to keep the colonists alive, I'd say these are better than me going out and punching them. But still, I'd recommend you use your grenades before I start shooting these."

"And how many other types of crystals you have?"

"Four in total. Red and yellow. But also...", he reached inside his coat and pulled out two more magazines, one filled with dark blue crystals and the other filled with green crystals.

"The blue crystals are cryogenic, they freeze almost anything in their effective radius. The green crystals send out an intense pulse of radiation strong enough to partially disintegrate matter, so I won't be using them most of the time."

"Why not?"

"You may have not thought about it, but if you were in the effective radius of any type of detonation, you would be affected as well. Since radiation works so differently, you would basically receive the same amount of radiation as anything I fire at. It tends to be fatal. Unless you are behind dense cover."

"All right you made your point."

They got onboard the Mako and drove back towards Zhu's Hope, clearing any Geth in their way.

* * *

 **Notes**

* * *

 _This wasn't Feros entirely, we'll get to the Thorian soon enough. I also chose to omit the Varren fight after finding Lizbeth._

 _So, Jaden does have shields after all. While I'm sure those kinds of shields exists elsewhere, I got the idea from an old RTS game, where a mod added lots of new units. One of these units possessed shields that looked like rectangular plates of energy surrounding the unit._

 _Many times when Jades does or uses something new, it is often followed with 'to Shepard it seems like...' etc. Remember that Shepard is meant to be an Infiltrator, half combat and half tech. She's a thinker._

 _Jaden's, crystals: essentially fire, concussion, ice and poison._

* * *

 _ **Blaze1992:** I admit i didn't put much thought on how the C-Sec or others would react to Jaden's exotic weapons. But there are few things to note:_

 _On Citadel, before meeting Shepard, Jaden would mostly use his abilities or his energy swords. His Detonators or the Thunderbolt would be nowhere to be seen._

 _Anyone that survived his previous encounters with any 'crime lord', what they could ultimately tell C-Sec was that they saw a dark figure with glowing swords.  
How seriously could C-Sec take their reports. The damage caused by his swords, there are other ways to achieve similar effects._

 _By the time Jaden was seen with all of his weapons, was when he joined Shepard at the C-Sec academy. Shepard was already a Spectre at that point, so she could tell any curious C-Sec officers to let him be. She wouldn't let anyone bother her team. At that time no one but Shepard and the team truly knew about his weapons._

 _As for forcibly trying to get Jaden to surrender himself or his weapons... To say that would be a bad idea, is a monumental understatement._

 _This approach might still seem like a lazy one, but i'd say its better than saying 'oh they don't care'_


	6. The Thorian and Creepers

Chapter 6: The Thorian and creepers

* * *

As they reached Zhu's Hope, they found the garage door locked. A strange thing laid still next to the emergency open switch. As Shepard went to press the switch, the thing suddenly got up. It was straight from a horror film, with its skeletal and twisted look. It ran up to Shepard and tried to puke some green viscous liquid at her, acid most likely. She managed to dodge the liquid and a single red crystal from Jaden's Detonator caused it to splatter all over the place.

"What the hell was that", Shepard asked, sounding disgusted. "If that was a human..."

"Wait.", Jaden said calmly and scanned the residue with his Omni-tool.

"It is organic, but it's not human, or any other species. It is, in fact, a strange form of plant material. It would appear that these 'creepers' are the Thorian's attempt to mimic humanoid shape. The Thorian must be using these as its soldiers. In addition to the colonists, most likely."

At this point Jaden removed the red crystal magazine from his Detonator and replaced it with another filled with dark blue crystals and continued:

"If you have cryogenic ammunition, use them. You probably wouldn't want to splash acid all over the place."

* * *

When they opened the garage door, they immediately saw a dozen more creepers charging at them, in addition to couple of the colonists firing at them.

Jaden's blue crystals were no less effective than his red ones, a single direct hit would almost instantly freeze any creeper he fired at, after which it would topple over and shatter. He, Ashley and Wrex cleared out the creepers, while Shepard lobbed one of her modified grenades at the colonists, the gas knocked them out. They got to the elevator.

After they exited the elevator, they heard footsteps on their right. They prepared to fire, but soon lowered their weapons. It was Kaidan and his group.

"Jesus, Shepard", Kaidan said, panting "When you said you reached the garage, we tried to meet up with you but we got attacked by these monstrous... things."

"There were more up there", Shepard replied. "Anybody hurt?"

"No. Liara got some acid on her armor, but we were able to remove it before it did any damage."

Shepard twitched very slightly. She didn't like anyone in her team getting hurt.

"Good.", She then started, "We're back together now, let return to the colony and deal with the Thorian."

"Switch to cryogenic ammunition, if you have them", Jaden told Kaidan and the others.

With her grenades, Shepard took out a pair of colonists that were hiding behind a slab of stone.

They took the stairs down and arrived at Zhu's Hope.

* * *

More creepers charged at them and possessed colonists fired at them. After waves of creepers, they finally managed to knock out the remaining colonists. Shepard moved over to the crane controls that would allow them to access the Thorian's lair. Before they did enter, one more colonist appeared. Fai Dan. His movements were jerky and he was constantly shaking. He was clearly fighting over the control of his body.

"It gets in your head", he started, saying each word with tremendous effort.

"It.. wants.. m-me.. to.. s-stop you." he twitched with every word and pulled out a pistol.

"But.. I.. won't...", he pointed the pistol at his head. "I won't!" and in a last act of defiance, he shot himself.

They took the stairs down into the lair.

* * *

As they entered a large area, Shepard was in the middle of a sentence: ".. we need to find this plant and see what we can..."

A huge thing laid in front of them. The thing was hovering above a deep abyss, having attached itself with multiple tentacles.

"That... is disturbing", Liara said.

"If that's a plant...", Jaden added.

The Thorian huffed and from its 'mouth' a green Asari appeared.

The Asari began to explain about the Thorian, how it absorbed the 'essence' of the Protheans that lived there 50000 years before. Saren needed the 'Cipher', a way to understand Prothean language, to find the Conduit. Saren also knows Shepard is after him, so after receiving the Cipher, he ordered his Geth to destroy the Thorian in order to prevent Shepard from receiving it.

When Shepard asked for the Cipher, the Asari responded by saying that the Thorian would no longer going to 'listen to the flesh' and informed that they would all be consumed. The Asari then drew her assault rifle and a swarm of creepers were charging at Shepard and her team.

* * *

Everyone drew their weapons and got to work. Jaden fired yellow crystals at the creepers that were in between him and the Thorian. The Asari tried to warp him with her biotics, but Jaden deflected the attack and activated the crystals. The resulting concussive force sent the creepers and the Asari tumbling into the abyss. After clearing them they moved on. Every time they entered a new room, the green Asari appeared again along with another horde of creepers. They also severed any Thorian's tentacles they found, weakening it.

Eventually they reached the final room, where they saw a strange organic pod. They cut the final tentacle, which sent the Thorian into the abyss. They never heard it hit the bottom. The pod opened, revealing the same Asari, but this time in the more normal blue coloration.

They raised their weapons but Jaden raised his hand and said: "Wait."

"I'm.. I'm free!", the Asari exclaimed. "I- I suppose I should thank you for rescuing me."

The Asari then introduced herself as Shiala and proceeded to explain who she was and how she got there. She serves... served matriarch Benezia. She was brought here to create a link between Saren and the Thorian, afterwards she was simply left there to rot.

She also told them about Sovereign, Saren's ship, what little she knew.

Shepard asked for the Cipher. Shiala melded with Shepard and transferred the Cipher into her mind. Afterwards Liara suggested they return to the Normandy, where Shepard could be monitored. Shiala offered to stay with the colonists, as she felt like she was at least partially responsible for their state.

* * *

This time Shepard sent the Feros report to the Council before having a meeting with the team. But their attitude towards her still wasn't preferable so she cut them off. Again.

Before the meeting, Shepard was privately contacted by the Salarian councillor. The councillor explained that one of their many spy teams hasn't reported back. This particular group was investigating the planet Virmire, where Saren supposedly had a secret base.

In the meeting, Liara expressed her concern towards Shepard, as to her, Shepard seemed pale.

After Shepard reassured Liara she was fine and they began to talk about their next plan.

In the end, Liara offered to meld with Shepard, to see if the visions would make any sense. Still no success, maybe Shepard needed more time with the Cipher.

They were almost done, when Joker called: "Sorry to interrupt, Commander. But I received message from Admiral Hackett, he wants to speak to you, specifically to you."

"All right, dismissed, all of you."

They all left and Shepard stayed to hear what Hackett had to say.

* * *

 **Notes**

* * *

 _So, Virmire has been mentioned. And why did Admiral Hackett want to speak to Shepard privately._

 _The next chapter should be have a slightly darker tone. Well, atleast in my opinion._

* * *

 ** _Eavise:_** _This probably counts as a minor spoilers, but the intended pairings would be Shepard x Liara and Garrus x Tali (in future somewhere).  
One, who Jaden might get very close to, would be Samara (when the time comes)._

 _Most of the Shepard x Liara part happens outside (i'm not very good at that very softy fluffy stuff. Its a more lazy approach, but either way)  
_

 _Though seeing how important Liara becomes in the future, she and Jaden will be spending more time together (non romantically of course)_

 _The conversation Liara had with Jaden after coming onboard, was simply because Liara felt like no one would trust her. Jaden proved her wrong._

 _And as for teaching Liara to shoot, it is simply because he is really experienced with weaponry.  
Shepard herself may not have the time to teach Liara. Wrex would say shotguns are the best and ignore the rest. Garrus would be the same but with snipers.  
And Ashley has all that 'not trusting aliens' issue.  
_

 _I'd try to stay in the T area, without going into too graphic or explicit stuff, but one can never know._


	7. Ghosts of the past

Chapter 7: Ghosts of the past

* * *

In his Cabin, Jaden had just finished filling his Detonator magazines with new crystals, when the door opened. Shepard entered.

She looked distraught.

Jaden decided to forgo his usual 'Ah, commander' -response and instead said: "Normally I would ask, if something is wrong. But this time something is clearly wrong."

"Yeah.", Shepard started. "I have a very personal matter..."

"I can already sense the direction you are going, but I'll let you speak with your own pace."

Shepard tried to find a good place to start, then asked: "How much do you know about my history?"

"Mostly what I heard from different sources. Also now that I have been a part of your crew, your actions tell about your past. Anything in particular?"

"Akuze." She tried to sound normal, but even the name alone set fire in her.

"The planet, where according to the reports, you lost your entire unit. Though anyone with a brain knows, that you didn't just 'lose' your unit. Something happened there."

"We.. we were attacked by a large group of Thresher Maws." She briefly closed her eyes; she would always remember it, like it happened yesterday. "They took everyone. I was the only survivor."

"Normally it is customary to say 'I'm sorry' or something similar, but over my time, I've come to learn that no amount of kind words can undo what has happened in the past."

"No.", Shepard regained herself and continued: "But there is more. Admiral Hackett wanted to speak to me privately. He told me that someone has been killing Alliance scientists. These scientists had been working on a secret project. On Akuze."

"An attempt of cover up, obviously."

"Yeah. He gave me the last known location of the last scientist, Dr. Wayne. He thought I might want to check it out, considering the connection to me."

She paused briefly.

"And I'm going to."

"And you came to me because you want me to come with you. To help you find out what really happened there and why."

"Yes. I thought because of your... unusual nature, you might discover something others can't. It's a personal matter, but I hope you would help me with this."

"You know I didn't come this far just to say no.", Jaden paused, then continued: "But you must understand, that whatever we might find, it may not be pleasant for you."

"No. But I need to find out."

"And if the maw attack was deliberate and we find whoever is responsible, they will be held accountable for their actions. Not just for you, but for everyone. When will we be leaving?"

"Right now.", Shepard replied and exited.

Jaden quickly grabbed his weapons from the table and made his way in to the cargo bay.

* * *

Jaden and Shepard entered the Mako and landed onto the planet Ontarom.

They began to drive towards the base, where the scientist supposedly was.

As they got close to the base, Mako's radar picked several enemies guarding the entrance. So they drove up to a plateau, where they had an excellent view of the base exterior.

A perfect sniping position.

They took their weapons into their hands, Shepard with her new Spectre -level sniper rifle and Jaden with his Thunderbolt, and moved in to position.

First they simply looked through their scopes to see what was happening.

"Mercs." Jaden said. "Two snipers, others have regular assault rifles."

"Wonder if they let us in, if we ask nicely.", Shepard said sarcastically.

"Somewhat... I highly doubt it."

With a smile, Shepard asked: "Sniper contest?"

"Ah, you can have them. Firing with the Thunderbolt would reveal our position. But I can act as a spotter for you. Take out their snipers first."

And so Shepard did. One of the mercenary snipers simply hit the ground dead. The other began searching for them, but was shot as well before he could locate them. Simultaneously the others began to frantically look around and tried to get to cover. One by one, Shepard shot them, until only one remained.

Understanding the danger, this mercenary tried to make a break for the entrance. But before he got in, he was struck by a lightning, from Jaden's Thunderbolt.

Through her own scope Shepard saw, that against an organic target, the lightning had much more gruesome effect than it did against the Geth. Almost like a small bomb had exploded inside the unfortunate mercenary.

Shepard and Jaden returned to the Mako and drove to the base.

* * *

They entered.

Moving carefully, they arrived at the first room, this one filled with lockers and other everyday items one could expect to find from such a base. They approached a second, larger room, when Jaden raised his hand and whispered: "More mercs."

They listened and heard more than a dozen voices. Some were talking about their current task, while others where bragging about various unorthodox thing they have done in the past.

Shepard raised her assault rifle and prepared to enter, but Jaden again raised his hand and whispered: "No. You did beautiful work with the ones outside. I'll deal with them."

Jaden took his energy swords into his hands, but didn't activate them yet. He entered the room.

Moments later, all the lights in the room went out. The darkness also covered the corridor where Shepard was and the first room.

She raised her assault rifle but didn't move and instead listened.

The first reaction from the mercenaries was confusion, who put the lights out. Get the goddamn lights back on, said someone.

This confusion quickly changed, when the first dying screams were heard.

It quickly erupted into frantic chaos of yelling, shooting, more yelling and more shooting.

Outside the room, Shepard could see some very brief red flashes followed by dying screams. She shivered, when she thought about what Jaden, completely clad in black, could do in complete darkness.

Finally, only silence remained.

After a moment, Shepard could hear faint footsteps. Approaching her.

"Jaden... ?", She asked quietly, her weapon ready. She stood completely still.

No answer.

Then about five meters in front of her, one of Jaden's swords suddenly appeared, stabbed through one of the mercenaries. The eerie red glow of the blade perfectly illuminated the look of horror on the mercenary's face. Behind the mercenary, stood Jaden.

"God damnit, Jaden", Shepard said, lowered her weapon and exhaled. "You're scary at times."

"Fear is a powerful tool, especially when used correctly", came the reply.

In the light of the red blade, Shepard could see Jaden point something in the room with his other hand. All the lights came back on. He deactivated the sword and put the hilt on his belt. The mercenary simply slumped onto the floor.

They continued through the room. Seeing the damage Jaden had done reminded Shepard of Chora's Den, where she first encountered him.

After exiting the room, they arrived at a T-junction. On their left, the door panel showed red, implying the door was locked and they heard no commotion inside. The other side, however, the panel was green and they could hear something inside.

* * *

They opened the door.

First thing they saw, was a man in combat gear, pointing a pistol at another man, who wore typical doctor's garments. The man in the combat gear turned to face Shepard and Jaden, then yelled: "Stay back! I got no grief with you! All I want is this bastard!"

"Please, he's a madman!", the doctor looked at Shepard and Jaden, then turned back to the mercenary in front of him "Mr. Toombs, you're insane! You need help!"

"Shut up! You don't get to lie today! You d...", he yelled again before suddenly stopping. He turned to face Shepard again and twitched slightly. He recognized her. "Shepard? My God is that you?"

At this point, Jaden had calmly walked slightly to the side, his hands behind his back. He was observing.

"Toombs...", Shepard said quietly. "But.. you were on Akuze.. I saw the Thresher maw pull you under."

"They took me, Shepard.", Toombs told her. "The scientists."

"You can't prove any of this!", Doctor Wayne exclaimed. "This man is delusional!"

Toombs continued: "See. They were running tests on the Thresher maws. They let those things to hit us, just to watch and study. I woke up in a holding cell. The scientists were delighted I survived. Now they had someone to run tests on."

At this point Toombs proceeded to explain all the horrifying things the scientists did to him.

"Toombs, I.. I.. didn't... know", Shepard's voice was trembling with fury and sadness.

She then looked at Jaden and with saddened voice asked "Jaden?"

Jaden slightly lowered his head. His eyes had a red tint to them. Then he spoke with a voice Shepard had never heard before. His voice too had sadness in it:

"He is not lying, Shepard", Jaden said and looked at Toombs. "I can sense it. I can sense all of it."

Shepard was almost frozen in shock.

"You can't believe Toombs! He doesn't have any proof! I demand a fair trial!", Wayne exclaimed.

"You... bastard!", Toombs yelled. "She was on Akuze, she knows the truth!"

"And he..." Jaden turned to face Dr. Wayne. "led the experiments."

That statement alone, froze everyone to the bone.

"I'd believe Toombs over you any day!", Shepard hissed at Wayne, unable to contain her fury. "And I sure as hell believe him.", She looked at Jaden briefly before turning to face Wayne.

Toombs then explained that the scientists were part of a larger group, Cerberus and how he managed to escape. He then confessed that he was the one who had been killing the scientists, to get revenge.

Finally, Toombs said: "This man deserves to die. For you. For me. For all of us. Are you with me?"

As much as Shepard hated Dr. Wayne, she couldn't think of a punishment that would fit his actions.

Shooting him felt too easy.

"No.", said Jaden. "If you truly want to have revenge, don't just shoot him. It's the easy way out for them."

"What?!", Toombs yelled "You weren't there! You don't know what they did to me!"

Toombs raised his pistol. He was going to shoot.

Quickly Jaden shot Toombs with one yellow crystal from his Detonator; the concussive force knocked him unconscious.

* * *

Wayne, believing the worst was over for him, said: "I.. I'll stand trial, once we get out."

"No.", Shepard said with her voice still trembling "You won't talk your way out."

"No, he won't.", Jaden agreed. He took his other Detonator, already filled with green crystals, pointing it straight at Wayne.

Shepard's eyes widened; she remembered Jaden's warnings about using the green crystals.

At this point, Wayne tried to run. Jaden quickly waved his hand and Wayne was flung backwards against the wall. He continued push Wayne against the wall, as if he was going to crush Wayne between the wall and the force he exerted. The force, indirectly, pushed some of the loose stuff towards the wall as well. Jaden finally stopped and Wayne slumped onto the floor, coughing. He got up slowly.

"How many were in your unit, Shepard?", Jaden asked quietly, but audibly.

"I.. fifty-one.", Shepard managed to say.

"Fifty-one. Two survivors."

A pause.

"Forty-nine.. Dead.. Souls.. Screaming.. For.. Justice.. Vengeance.. That.. They.. Shall.. Have.." With every word, Jaden fired several green crystals at Wayne.

The crystals were embedded in him but didn't activate. He was going to activate them later.

* * *

"Crystals?", Wayne almost laughed "You shot me with crystals?!"

"You shouldn't worry about the fact that I shot you with crystals. What you need to worry about is when they activate.", Jaden spoke with his burning voice: "You're a scientist. Tell me, do you know that if radiation has enough intensity, it can partially disintegrate matter?"

Wayne looked confused at first, until he realized the implication. The smug look on his face quickly faded.

"If you're brave enough, however, you can always dig them out of your body. In which case, upon activation, the crystals will simply induce a terminal radiation illness in you."

A pause.

"Either way, this place will forever be your tomb."

With his powers, Jaden lifted Toombs of the floor and turned to leave with him and Shepard.

Before the door closed, he added:

"When the crystals start to glow, make peace with yourself."

When they exited each room and the base, as an extra, Jaden welded the doors shut with his energy swords.

As they got to the Mako, Shepard finally managed to ask: "Is he going to be allright?", briefly looking at the unconscious Toombs.

"Yes. He will be out cold for couple of hours. Nothing more serious than that. I'd imagine you want to see he gets the help he needs."

"Yeah."

* * *

They began to drive away from the base. Neither of them spoke anything.

After they had driven for some time, Jaden took the Detonator, that he used to shoot Wayne, into his hands. The activator switch glowed white. He looked at the switch for a good long while. He then flipped the weapon around and offered it to Shepard, saying: "It's yours, if you want."

Shepard stopped the Mako and carefully took the Detonator into her hands. The weapon was lighter than she had thought. She too looked at the activator for a long time, then held her thumb above it for another long while. Finally, she closed her eyes and pressed the activator.

The white glow quickly faded.

Shepard opened her eyes, exhaled and then asked:

"Is it...?"

"It is done.", Jaden confirmed.

Shepard returned the weapon to Jaden.

* * *

In a moment frustration, Shepard punched the dashboard multiple times. Then she took many deep breath to calm herself and said: "I.. just.. can't believe."

"When you came to talk to me the first time on Normandy, do you remember what I told I had been doing before joining your team?"

"Yeah."

"To me this was just another instance of that kind of people. I have seen things like that before. You might have not, at least to this extent.  
That it was your own unit made it much more personal to you."

He continued

"Believe me, you wouldn't have reacted the way you did if it was just some other Alliance unit."

"I know."

"Still, I believe that Wayne deserved more than a trial where he would talk his way out or just him being shot. You don't have to agree with me but I'd hope you understand."

"I do.", She said quickly "I.. I wanted him to pay. For every life he took. But I couldn't do even half of what you did to him. So.. thanks."

They sat for a while, then Jaden continued:

"Listen, you can't change the past. None of us can. Your experiences have forged you into who you are now, the first human Spectre. Going after possibly the greatest threat you or anyone has ever faced. You are who you are, not just because of your good experiences, but also because of the bad ones."

"Thanks." Shepard said with a faint smile.

"We all have our past", Jaden continued "Ghosts of our past. You. Me. Everyone."

"How do you deal with that?" Shepard asked.

"Mostly I chose to detach myself from everyone, not the best solution, but it has worked for me. Less 'ghosts' that way. But even then, I do have a fair share of them."

"Like what?"

"For example, my past is partially shrouded."

"What do you mean by that?"

Jaden's voice got much more serious as he continued: "What I'm going to tell you... You must not tell anyone else. I mean anyone. It's not a threat or a demand, but you would endanger everyone you tell."

"I understand.", now Shepard was curious.

* * *

Jaden began:

"Just over three hundred years ago, 308 to be precise, I woke up in a deep-space research station. Owned by an unknown organization."

"How did you get there?"

"That's the part. I don't know. I simply woke up there, with no memory of who or what I was, how I came to be there, what was done to me, nothing."

"How did you get out?"

"By the time I woke up, something had already gone wrong. Alarms were ringing everywhere and the self-destruct sequence was initiated. Not a living soul was there, except me."

"What happened?"

"The station was overrun by monstrous things, straight from old horror vids. But this time, it was real. Most likely result from another experiment."

He continued:

"I made, or fought, my way to the escape shuttles. In the process, I came to notice, I possessed some unusual abilities."

"Biotics?"

"More than just biotics. You aren't a biotic yourself, but you understand the basic principle behind them, yes?"

"Yes, by using their implants and element zero laced in their bodies, they can generate mass-effect fields to manipulate objects and such."

"Quite so. There are few other abilities, but you could say biotics can primarily manipulate mass."

She nodded. She was following him so far.

"My abilities include similar abilities, but they also go far beyond that. Because I can manipulate energy itself.  
And in the end, everything is energy. Even we are just solidified energy."

"My God.. at least that does explain some of the things you have done."

"Indeed."

Something terrifying came to Shepard's mind and she asked:

"You're not.. Are you.. omnipotent?"

"Hah, no. Though in a way yes." He continued: "There is a limit of how much energy I can manipulate at any given time. An extremely strict limit, considering the magnitude of powers that can exist within our universe. Though anything below that limit, in theory, I could do."

He paused.

"For example, breaking matter into energy, or reforming energy into matter is one of the hardest things to do in a larger scale, so don't expect to see me go and wipe out anything in our way by just waving my hands."

She laughed little, that would indeed look funny and terrifying.

"Mostly I have only used my powers in ways that could be mistaken for biotics, or my invisibility and such. Those few times you have seen red energy around me,  
that is a sign of something different."

"Yeah, seeing you punch a fully grown Krogan into two, that was something. But why red? Could it be blue or green?"

"Red is often seen as a color of danger, and that is exactly what I am if it comes to that."

* * *

Another pause, then she asked:

"Can I ask... your weapons?"

"There were some advanced schematics in the station, I copied parts of them, but primarily my weapons work because of me. Also a good way to prevent them from falling into wrong hands."

Something else came in her mind and she asked:

"It probably sounds stupid, but Doctor Chakwas once informed me that she or anyone else hasn't ever seen you eat or drink anything. Is that related to your energy manipulation?"

"So, you worry about me not eating or drinking anything", Jaden sounded amused. "But yes. I do not have to eat or drink anything. Ever.  
While I still require energy to sustain myself, I do not have to produce it through any complex chemical reactions, I can simply take it from around me."

"Even now?"

"Yes. You might not notice it inside your suit, but look at the internal temperature."

She did, and it told her everything.

"This energy draining effect... It's not dangerous, is it?"

"Normally like this, no. But it is noticeable. Sometimes I choose to disable it, in order to mask it. And yes, if I wanted, I could alter it to the point where everything around me gets almost instantly frozen."

"And you wear completely black clothing for some reason."

"My true form would be terrifying to look at and it would draw unwanted attention. A lot of it."  
"Sometimes, I would show it to those I am going to destroy. So in their final moments, they would understand how futile it was to go up against me."

So many thoughts were racing in Shepard's mind, she finally asked: "How did you get back in civilization then?"

"I made my way to the escape shuttles and plotted a course for the Citadel, moments before the station self-destructed.  
Even though I said I had no memory of myself, I still possessed memories, such as language, about element zero, about anything that would be 'common knowledge'."

"Why are you calling yourself 'Jaden' if you don't remember your past"

"It read on the pod, where I woke up from."

A pause.

"On Citadel, I tried to think what I would do next. Then I found it. Some thugs, few Turians were robbing an Asari. Due to her youth, she was completely defenseless. And no-one.. Did nothing."  
"So I did. And ever since, I have been going after those kinds of people."

"Surprised no-one has come after you. Shadow Broker, any merc groups."

"I am sure many have tried. And are still trying. It is one of the reasons I have had very little contact with anyone. Joining your team against Saren was something new to me. I wanted and still want to help you against him, but this is also risky to me. It is also why you must tell no one what I have told you now."

"I won't. On that, you can trust me." She took few deep breaths. "So much information, but I'm glad you told me. Thank you."

"I didn't trust you at first; you were still a stranger at the time, no matter what I knew about you. But on the other hand, you deserve to know. You took a risk taking me with you, without knowing practically nothing about me. Both in here today and generally on your hunt for Saren."

"Seems like that risk was worth it."

"Yes. Yes it was."

* * *

Shepard got back onto the wheel and drove the Mako to a open area, where she activated the locator beacon, so the Normandy could pick them up.

On Normandy, they both exited the Mako and said nothing to each other or anyone else, despite some of them no doubt had questions. Shepard was still visibly upset about Akuze, but also content. And as usual, no one could see Jaden's expressions.

Shepard went right into her cabin, she really needed a good rest after all that, Akuze and Jaden revealing so much about himself.

Jaden too returned to his cabin, put his weapons on the table and then stood still.  
He felt slight guilt. He had bent the truth to some degree. About what he had told to Shepard.

* * *

 **Notes**

* * *

 _So, Shepard has atleast partially dealt with Akuze. And she got some one-on-one time with Jaden. Plus Jaden opened up a bit.  
Yes, the mission to Ontarom was a duo mission; no one but Shepard and Jaden were there.  
And Toombs was still unconscious when Jaden and Shepard talked to each other, so he didn't hear anything sensitive.  
_

 _Im not completely sure if Shepard's unit was 51 soldiers, but it was said that 50 died (at the time Toombs wasn't known to be alive) and Shepard was the only known survivor.  
So 51._

 _Originally i had planned that in some dire situation (at first with Haliat, who would have trapped him and everyone else. And then later changed to Balak, who wanted to kill millions of people), Jaden would have suddenly emerged in a basically god-mode and would have destroyed everyone.  
Afterwards Shepard would have demanded answers from him. But it sounded too cheesy and.. yeah.  
This felt like a better way to reveal about Jaden. After Shepard told him about something personal, Jaden told her something personal.  
_

 _The whole 'disintegrating matter' with radiation; years ago i remember reading that very, very intense gamma radiation can break down wood, well its structure.  
Maybe the green crystals generate that much radiation, or they use some other form of radiation._

* * *

 **============== Possible spoiler below:===========================  
**

* * *

 _As stated in the end, Jaden had bent the truth. What he told about his powers and abilities, is all well and true.  
But the only part about 'waking up in a research station 308 years ago', that is true, is that he really woke up 308 years ago somewhere.  
Somewhere that wasn't a research station._


	8. Cold reception

Chapter 8: Cold reception

* * *

The Normandy approached the planet Noveria, a 'private' world owned by a corporation that would lease laboratories for other corporations;  
to perform research that is controversial on too dangerous to be done anywhere else.

Joker requested a berth from Noveria's flight control. They reception wasn't very welcoming;  
Normandy's arrival wasn't scheduled and their defense systems were tracking them.

After Joker stated their business, they were finally allowed to land.

Once they landed, Shepard spoke: "We'll first scout around, see what's going on. I'm taking Garrus, Jaden and Liara with me on this one. Liara might find something about her mother. Once we know more, we'll call for the rest of you."

They all went to gear up. When Shepard entered into the airlock, she saw Garrus and Liara waiting for her. "Where's Jaden?" She asked.

"Right here.", came the reply next to her, seemingly out of nowhere. "I will say invisible most of the time. At least until we are able to leave this port. Noveria is an inhospitable planet. In more ways than one. You will understand soon enough."

"All right but stick with us and don't do something we'll regret."

"I understand."

* * *

They exited the Normandy. They got to the end of the docking bay, into a smaller room, when first trouble arrived.  
A security team was blocking their way. A few Turians and two women. One of the women was clearly the leader of the team.

"Hold it. Let's see some ID", the leader said.

"My name is Shepard. I'm a Spectre", Shepard said.

"Load of horse-crap ma'am", said the other woman.

"We are in the process of confirming that, Sgt Stirling." the leader said to her.

The leader then pointed at their weapons and added: "Weapons are not allowed in Noveria, you will have to hand them over."

"I'm a Spectre, I'm not surrendering my weapons.", Shepard responded coldly.

"Then... we will take them by force.", Stirling said. And, as if trying to act more dangerous, she also activated her biotic aura.  
The biotic energy surrounded her hand.

Both Shepard's team and the security team drew their weapons.

It was about to erupt in a firefight.

* * *

Shepard could almost feel Jaden move, before it happened.

By an unknown force, unknown to the security team, every member of the security team was thrown against the walls of the room, unable to move.  
The force also extinguished Stirling's biotic aura.

The temperature in the room lowered. Both figuratively and literally. Icicles began to form from the ceiling and frost appeared on the windows.

A third woman approached them from inside the port. She was not security; her clothing suggested she was a member of the administration.

She then called: "Stand down! We confirmed their identity, Spectres are allowed to carry weapons."

At this point she realized what was happening in the room. Her demeanor quickly changed.

She said:

"Spectre. Please. Let them go, they are only doing their job."

Shepard rolled her eyes. She wasn't doing it. Jaden was. Still, Jaden complied with the request.

The security team was dropped onto the floor. And the freezing effect stopped as well.

The third woman the introduced her as Gianna Parasini, administrative assistant to Administrator Anoleis, the leader of the port. She then told them meet her by the reception desk, if they had more questions.

At this point, sergeant Stirling couldn't help herself. "Behave yourselves.", she called, though it was clear she was no longer in control of the situation.

Shepard and her team began to walk towards the reception desk to talk more with Parasini.  
Before the doors closed, they could hear Stirling ask from the security team:

"What the hell was that?"

No one could answer.

* * *

Shepard then asked over the comms: "Was that necessary?"

"It was going to evolve into a firefight", Jaden answered calmly, then added "This port is overflowing with corporate corruption."

"Just... warn me next time."

They got up to Parasini and asked some questions. They found out that someone special, Matriarch Benezia, had arrived there recently. After having asked all their questions, they thanked Parasini and left.

"Goddess, she is here", Liara whispered. "I.. I suppose you want to talk to me, Commander."

"No. I don't. I trust you, Liara."

"Thank you, it means a lot to hear it from you."

* * *

Parasini had told them that in order to leave Port Hanshan, they would need a pass from Administrator Anoleis.

Anoleis, however, wasn't very keen on giving one to them.

As they left the Administrator's office, Parasini quietly whispered them to go meet with Lorik Qui'in, A Turian who was currently in the bar upstairs.

They did, and they found out some interesting facts about Anoleis.

Anoleis was corrupt and Lorik had proof of it, so Anoleis accused him of being corrupt and ordered Hanshan's security to search his office in order to find it.

He then proceeded to explain that Anoleis was paying them under the table.

Finally, Lorik offered to give them his pass, if they returned the proof to him. They agreed to do so.

Once they arrived at Lorik's office, they were stopped by a pair of security guards. Shepard called them out of being in league with Anoleis.

The guards, not wanting to fight a Spectre and her team, agreed to leave.

There was another pair of guards upstairs, who weren't going to leave.

They drew out their weapons and aimed them at the group, but Shepard and Garrus shot them before they could fire.

Shepard and he others got to Lorik's hidden computer and uploaded the proof. They then turned to leave.

* * *

At this point, Jaden warned: "Incoming. Looks like Stirling wants another round."

"How many?", Shepard asked.

"Five in total. Two remained downstairs, others are coming up. They are going to attack you."

"Damn it.", Shepard cursed. She wouldn't want to start fights, not in here, but she would if she had to. She then told Garrus and Liara to get ready

"I'll take the ones downstairs", Jaden said and then added: "See if you can distract the ones coming up."

Like Jaden had said, Shepard, Garrus and Liara ran into Stirling and two other guards after exiting Lorik's office.  
The two other guards stood couple meters behind Stirling.

"You're not supposed to be here, Shepard", Stirling said.

At this point, Jaden became visible, behind the two guards. He quietly approached them.  
Shepard noticed him, but didn't express it, so Stirling or the others wouldn't notice him.

"Neither are you. You're in league with Anoleis and his corrupted lackeys.", Shepard said to Stirling.

Jaden grabbed the two guards from their necks. They weren't able to scream, gasp, or anything.

At first it didn't look like anything else was happening.

Then Shepard and others noticed.  
Where visible, the skin of the guards turned paler and paler, until it was unnatural white color.

Simultaneously, frost began to form on their armor.

The horror on the guards' faces was clearly visible.

Jaden literally drained all the energy from them.

Finally, all that was left, were two icy statues, perfectly still, where the guards once stood.

"Anoleis would throw you off the planet for what you have done.", Stirling said, not noticing what had happened.  
She raised her voice. "But I won't. Do you know what we do to cop-killers here?!"

At this point Jaden spoke: "The same thing we do to corruption. We cleanse it."

Striling turned around, her eyes widened, when she saw what once were her escort.

Quickly she brought up her shotgun and fired at Jaden; the tiny metallic shavings simply evaporated on his shields.  
Stirling then brought up her biotics and attempted to throw Jaden further away.

Jaden allowed to biotic attack to hit him; as he was pushed away, he pulled Stirling with him, using his own powers.  
Before he hit the wall, Jaden slowed himself, turned around and launched himself towards Stirling.  
With a single swift swipe, almost too fast to even register, Jaden severed one of Stirling's hands with his energy sword, as he flew past her.

Stirling turned to face him; the pain from the cauterized wound was visible on her face.

With her other hand, she intended to attack Jaden again with her biotics.

Jaden reached out with his hand and lifted her off the floor.  
Then he proceeded to slam her against the roof, on the floor, left and right, again and again. He was practically toying with her now.

When Jaden stopped, Stirling was on the floor. She got up as fast as she could, when she saw Jaden approach her.  
All she managed to do was reach for her pistol and shoot Jaden once; his shields again blocked the shot. Then Jaden grabbed her by the throat.

"Your existence... is at an end.", Jaden stated and slowly began to drain energy from Stirling.

After he was done, the threw the frozen statue of Stirling at the wall, where it shattered.

"Goddess...", Liara whispered quietly.

What Jaden had done to Stirling and others... It was so... different. Normally she would have expected to see firefighting and things like that. But to just freeze them like that? It seemed so unnatural and terrifying.

* * *

They proceeded to leave. Jaden became invisible again. As they got downstairs, Shepard saw that the guards downstairs had met the same fate as the ones upstairs.

They got to the elevator.

Gianna Parasini was waiting by the elevator as they got off. She then asked Shepard:

"I heard reports of noise at Lorik's office. Would you know something about that?"

Shepard shrugged: "Wasn't me." Technically it wasn't her.

"Still a smart ass, I see", Parasini responded, then added: "Meet me at the bar, before you talk to Qui'in."

After getting up to the bar, they did talk to Parasini first. She then explained who she really was.

Noveria Internal Affairs knew about Anoleis' corruption, but needed hard proof. Something Lorik had. All Shepard had to do now, was to get Lorik to testify against Anoleis. When Shepard told about the pass she needed, Parasini then said Shepard could have as many passes as she needed.

Garrus did support the idea, saying that Anoleis was dirty. Jaden agreed and so did Liara.

It took some persuasion, but Lorik agreed to testify. They returned to Anoleis' office, where Parasini then arrested him. His arrest was nothing short of spectacular. With Anoleis' pointless threats and Parasini's indifferent 'yeah yeah, get a move on' approach.

Afterwards, as she promised, Parasini gave Shepard the pass to leave port Hanshan.  
They made it to the garage door where the guard verified the pass and allowed them to enter.

* * *

They entered the garage. It was quiet. Too quiet.

Geth appeared from behind all the boxes. Shepard and the others drew their weapons and got to work.

After they were done, few guards appeared behind them, led by the same woman who had originally led the first, not so pleasant, group.  
From Lorik they heard that her name was Matsuo.

"What did you here, Shepard?", Matsuo asked.

"Wasn't me. it was the Geth."

"Geth? You except me to believe..?"

"Look around for once. And tell me those aren't Geth."

"I... I'll have to report this. If news about Geth got out, there will be investor panic."

Matsuo left.

At this point Shepard contacted the Normandy and told the remaining team to get to the garage.

Once they did, they got into the Mako that was ready for them.

"Jaden, you here?", Shepard asked.

"Yes." He appeared.

They drove off into the blizzard.

* * *

Due to the blizzard, Jaden couldn't provide extra firepower with his Thunderbolt, like he did on Feros; they would have to rely on the Mako's weapons.

The path towards Peak 15 was quite narrow, with mountains on one side and a deep abyss on the other.  
The narrow path wasn't their only problem. The Geth had some turrets and armatures, plus lots of troops in their way.  
With the Mako, it wasn't that big of a problem, but they did notice that this Mako wasn't as good or accurate as their own.  
Garrus really had done good work on their own Mako.

After couple of tunnels and few blockades of Geth, they finally reached Peak 15.  
They exited the Mako and quickly entered. Being in the blizzard wasn't preferable, especially for Garrus.

Inside Peak 15's garage, they were greeted by more Geth and a few Krogan.  
The Geth were taken out easily, but these Krogan were much more resilient than the ones they've fought before.

It took combined sniper fire from Shepard, Ashley and Garrus to take down one. Jaden took another down with his Thunderbolt.

The last Krogan charged at Jaden, who pushed the Krogan backwards and fired multiple red crystals at the Krogan.

The Krogan looked down and saw the crystals stuck in his armor. He laughed at the sight

"Ha! Your pitiful weapon couldn't even go through my armor!", he yelled.

"They're still stuck in you, aren't they?", Jaden remarked and, in front of the Krogan, tapped the activator button on his Detonator.

The Krogan looked again and saw the glowing crystals "ah...", the fiery explosion consumed the Krogan.

They checked the garage for more Geth.

When they found none, they entered deeper into the Peak 15.

* * *

 **Notes**

* * *

 _Soo, we got to Peak 15. Rachni incoming soon._

 _In the games, i personally really, really hated Kaira Stirling. Even to the point where i used to noclip through the two points, so i wouldn't have to interact with her.  
So i had Jaden throw her around the place and the have him kill her. Slowly._

 _This is the first place where Jaden used his abilities to freeze things. He could do it elsewhere too, but its easier to do in a planet that is naturally cold.  
_

* * *

 _Sometimes i feel like i use the word 'They' or 'the' way too much, but i'm not sure._


	9. An old enemy

Chapter 9: An old enemy

* * *

As they entered deeper into the Peak 15 complex, they found themselves at a security outpost. While there was nothing unusual about a security outpost in a place like peak 15. But what was unusual, was the pair of turrets that were pointing the wrong way.

"Why are the turrets pointing at the wrong way?", Liara asked.

"They want to keep their people inside as much as they want to keep others out.", Garrus stated.

"We should be careful.", Jaden added.

After taking an elevator up, they arrived at some kind of cafe. Up the stairs they could see a corridor and a few offices. There were some Geth in the cafe area, which they quickly took out.

The whole place squealed. They prepared for anything.

"This place is in a bad shape.", Ashley commented.

"Let us pray it does not collapse on us.", Jaden added.

* * *

At this point Shepard and the others looked at damage. Tables and chairs were thrown all over the place and one of the windows was badly broken, allowing snow to get inside. Shepard wasn't fully convinced that the Geth would have done that. Geth normally shouldn't bother with breaking windows or thrashing up the place. Something else must have done it.

Their suspicions were quickly confirmed, when they saw a monstrous insect-like thing up in the corridor with the offices. The thing let out an unnatural screech, spit acid at the window, then charged at the group. Simultaneously, multiple smaller things ran at the group. These smaller things exploded upon contact with their shields, releasing noxious gas. Jaden lifted the large insect before it could ram the group, then threw one of his energy swords at it, cutting it vertically in half. He then activated his omni-tool and began to scan the thing.

"Shepard.", Wrex started. He sounded alarmed, which was unusual for a Krogan: "Those were Rachni."

"Can't be.", Garrus started "Rachni are extinct. The Krogan made sure of it."

"And the genophage was our reward...", the atmosphere got much more tense.

"Enough.", Jaden interrupted before things got worse. "I would believe Wrex over anyone else when it comes down to Rachni. And...", he displayed his omni-tool, "these are Rachni. The same Rachni that threatened the galaxy over a millennia ago."

"How did the Binary Helix found Rachni DNA or got their hands on live Rachni?", Tali asked.

"That, we are going to find out.", Jaden answered.

* * *

They got to another elevator which took them higher. At this point they were contacted by Peak 15's VI, Mira, who seemed to be either broken or operating at a reduced capability. Fortunately, the elevator took them close to the VI core. After clearing the Rachni they found, Shepard activated a backup power source for the VI and Tali got to work at the VI core. Even for Tali, it took some time to get the VI fully operational, but eventually she got it done.

At this point Mira reported the damage that had been done to the facility. The landlines that connected to the subsidiary labs were broken and the main fusion reactor of the Peak 15 was offline.

They decided to split into two groups to tackle both problems simultaneously.

One group consisted of Shepard, Garrus, Liara and Wrex. The other consisted of Ashley, Jaden, Kaidan and Tali.

* * *

Shepard decided that they would go and fix the landlines while the others would go to the main reactor.

With her team, Shepard entered the elevator that took them upwards. When they exited, almost instantly they were swarmed by the small Rachni, with a few large Rachni staying behind.

Quickly they opened fire on the swarm. They really didn't want to breathe in that noxious gas.

After they dealt with the swarm, Shepard and Garrus switched to their sniper rifles. With a battle cry, Wrex charged right in and Liara brought up her biotics to lift couple of the Rachni; that allowed Shepard and Garrus to easily snipe them. Once the Rachni were taken care of, they began to fix the landlines. Soon after Mira notified: "Landlines repaired"

With his team, Kaidan entered the other elevator that would them down to the reactor.

They just entered the control room, when Jaden raised his hand and warned: "Geth."

They also heard 'shifting' sounds. "Hoppers", Tali added.

Kaidan and Tali took out their pistols, while Ashley and Jaden took out their snipers.

Almost as soon as they exited the control room, one of those grey-yellow colored Geth, charged at them. Tali quickly disrupted its shields and Ashley brought it down with a clean shot through the head. Immediately afterwards, the hoppers showed up and from upstairs, a huge red Geth opened fire on them. Slightly increasing the output of his weapon, Jaden took aim and fired his Thunderbolt at the huge machine. The lightning burned through it and also arced towards one unfortunate hopper, that was too close, destroying it as well.

"Tali, get to the reactor, we'll cover you", Kaidan ordered.

Tali began to work on the reactor.

Kaidan's use of biotics made the Geth easy targets for Ashley and Jaden.

Just as Jaden fired at another Geth, Shepard contacted Kaidan.

* * *

Shepard contacted Kaidan's team; she flinched slightly when the first sound she heard over the comm, was a loud thunder; Jaded had just fired with his Thunderbolt.

She could also hear other sounds of firefighting.

With her ear still ringing she asked: "How's your end? We just fixed the landlines."

"Tali's working on the reactor right now", Kaidan responded. He fired several rounds with his pistol, then added: "Guess you didn't have Geth up there."

"We had Rachni. You going to be okay?"

"Yeh, we're almost done."

"Rendezvous with us at the Mira core when you're done."

"Understood, Commander."

Shepard's group were the first arrive at Mira's core, but Kaidan's group soon followed suit.

Almost as in an anticlimactic display, a pair of Rachni emerged from the grates. Shepard and the others shot one, while Jaden lifted and crushed the other.

They got up to another elevator that took them towards the tram. They decontamination chamber was blocked by another pair of Rachni. In the control room, they activated the plasma vents, which incinerated the Rachni.

Upon reaching the tram, they entered and traveled into Rift Station.

* * *

There was only one way forward, through a door into another elevator. As soon as the doors opened, they were greeted by a team of human guards, their weapons pointed at them. The guards quickly lowered their weapons and explained about the situation. After they were attacked by several Rachni, which they quickly took care of.

They decided to go talk with Dr. Cohen at med bay. He offered to give them the access card to the secure labs if they helped him. He and the others had been developing a bio-weapon, when some of the group were exposed to it. He needed them to finish the cure. He had all the schematics ready, he just didn't want to leave his colleagues. Shepard agreed to do so. She, Jaden and Liara made their way to the lab. At this point Jaden turned invisible; he had sensed something odd about one asari they had met upstairs. Shepard and Liara prepared the cure.

Once they finished, a voice said: "Your mission is over, Shepard."

The voice belonged to that one specific asari, she was accompanied by a pair of geth and another asari, a commando.

"So, you work with the matriarch", Shepard said.

"Guess you're not as stupid, after all. Weapons free!", the asari called.

Before they were able to open fire, Liara had already formed a singularity in the middle of the group.  
The gravity well lifted them all of the floor, they now floated mid-air helplessly.

Jaden reappeared at this time. The eyes of both asari widened; they realized the danger.

"Thank you." Jaden said to Liara and aimed one his Detonators at the singularity.

He fired several yellow crystals into the singularity, then activated them.

The singularity detonated with a colossal force.

Sounds of shattering bones could be heard when the asari collided with the wall.

The geth were able to recover, but Shepard and Liara shot them before they could retaliate.

The sheer blunt force trauma the asari sustained would be fatal, but not immediately.

Jaden quietly whispered to the asari: "If you knew who we were, you would not have dared to oppose us."

Shepard and the others left the lab, leaving the asari to perish.

* * *

They returned to Dr. Cohen who, when questioned, swore he knew nothing about the asari or their plan. As he promised, he gave his access card to Shepard. With the full team, they entered the maintenance tunnels, took out a lone Rachni soldier and arrived at the door that would lead them into the secure labs. And to matriarch Benezia.

"She.. She's in there?", Liara asked nervously.

"Yes.", Jaden said. "Be ready for anything."

They entered.

* * *

The large lab area was divided into two floors. The lower level where they stood covered the majority of the lab, with numerous boxes, lockers and other stuff. The upper level which was mostly just one large platform and at the end of the platform, was a tank. Inside it, was an enormous Rachni, had to be a Queen. Next to the tank, stood another figure, an asari. She wore ornate clothing and a headdress. This had to be matriarch Benezia.

"You do not know the privilege of being a mother." the matriarch started. "There is power in creation, to shape a life, turn it towards happiness or despair."

She turned to face them.

"Her children were to be ours", she referred to the Rachni queen. "raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies."

She noticed Liara

"I won't be moved by sympathy, no matter who you bring into this confrontation."

"Liara's here on her own behalf.", Shepard responded.

"Indeed. What have you told them about me, Liara?"

"What could I say, mother?", Liara's voice was filled with sadness "That you're insane? Evil? Tell them how to kill you?"

"Have you faced an asari commando unit before? Few humans have.", the matriarch asked.

Shepard lowered her head. The matriarch would go that far.

"And just like that, you would kill your own daughter.", Shepard said in disbelief.

"It seems I should have been stricter with her." Benezia responded bluntly.

* * *

Benezia brought up her biotic flare. Shepard couldn't move. She was completely frozen. She now understood the power matriarchs possessed. She and the others were completely at the matriarch's mercy. Benezia had placed everyone in the team into stasis.

Everyone except one.

Calmly Jaden walked towards the stairs, unfazed by the biotic force trying to hold him.

"What?! How can you resist my power?", Benezia exclaimed. "I command you to stand still!"

She tried again to freeze Jaden in stasis, to no avail. He had began to walk up the stairs, when he said: "You're going to have to do much.. better.. than that."  
He had reached the upper level and stood about ten meters from Benezia.

At this point Benezia brought up all her remaining biotic power in an attempt to finally freeze Jaden.

This attack slowed Jaden down slightly. And more importantly, truly drew his attention.

He then said: "So be it, matriarch.", his voice was cold and unnatural, even for him.

Jaden's voice chilled Shepard to the bone. There was something terrifying about the way he said 'matriarch'.

At this point, she was more afraid of Jaden that she could ever be of Benezia. She is the only one Jaden has told about his true potential.  
If Jaden was to unleash all of his power, she was sure Benezia wouldn't stand a chance.

The red energy enveloped Jaden's hands. He held his hands in front of his chest for a moment, then pushed them outwards, sending out a stream of energy towards Benezia.  
Benezia did the one thing she could, she gathered all her biotic power and similarly sent out a stream of biotic energy towards Jaden.

At this point Shepard and others were freed, as Benezia focused solely on Jaden.

When the two streams collided, the whole lab quaked violently.

The door on the other side of the lab opened: asari commandos and geth were pouring in.

The biotic power from Benezia created a powerful repulsive field around her.

Similarly, the energy emitted by Jaden super-heated his surroundings.

At this point nothing could approach Benezia or Jaden.

They were locked in with their battle against each other.

* * *

Shepard and the others couldn't worry about Jaden or Benezia right now, they had more pressing concerns.  
Together the commandos and geth snipers were a force to be reckoned with.  
Shepard, Ashley, Garrus and Tali focused on the geth, while Kaidan, Liara and Wrex focused on the commandos.  
This battle was the hardest they've ever fought before.  
Through the use of combo tactics, such as disrupting shields followed by a sniper round to the head, the number of enemies began to drop.  
Similarly, the biotics performed very clever acts, such as pulling a commando from the other side, through the upper level where Benezia and Jaden were still locked in.  
The unfortunate commando was literally reduced to ash.

When the last geth fell, Jaden growled: "Enough of this charade." and sent out a pulse of energy that tore through Benezia's defenses and pushed her against the Rachni Queen's tank.

Simultaneously he stopped the flow of his power.

* * *

She slowly got up, then defiantly said: "This is not over, Saren is unstoppable, my mind is filled with his light, everything is clear."

"The Rachni didn't cooperate with you", Shepard said "Why should I?"

"I will not betray him, I..", Benezia's demeanor changed entirely. She then quickly said: "You must listen. Saren still whispers in my mind. I can briefly fight his compulsions, but the indoctrination is strong."

Jaden calmly walked next to Benezia and placed his hand on her shoulder. His eyes blinked.

"Jaden?", Shepard asked.

"She is not lying, Shepard.", Jaden responded. "I can delay the corruption that is indoctrination. But not for long. This corruption comes from within."

In a calm tone, he then said to Benezia: "You must tell her everything you know."

* * *

Benezia then began to explain, starting with how she could, even if briefly, break free of Saren's control. She then continued with how people aren't themselves near Saren, how they begin to idolize him, to do anything for him. The Sovereign, his flagship, a huge dreadnought with extraordinary power.

"Sovereign isn't like other ships. Where it came from?", Shepard asked.

"I cannot say. But the geth didn't create it. The technology is far older and superior to anything else. At first I thought I could resist the indoctrination, but I was wrong. I became a willing servant to him. He sent me here to find the location of Mu relay, which was lost thousands of years ago."

"How does something like that go 'missing'?"

Benezia told about a star that went supernova, which pushed the relay away from its position. Once the nebula caused by the nova enveloped the relay, at this point it was practically impossible to find it.

"Someone on Noveria found it?"

"The Rachni inhabited that region. They found it. The Rachni queens possess genetic memory. New queens inherit the memories of the previous queens." She looked at the queen.

"This queen had the memory. And I.. took it.. by force."

"You can still redeem yourself", Shepard said. "Give me the location."

"I transcribed the data to an OSD, take it.", She handed the OSD to Shepard.

Liara spoke: "Knowing the coordinates isn't enough, where is he planning to go from there?"

"He wouldn't tell me his destination, but you must find out quickly. I transmitted the coordinates to him before your arrival."

* * *

Benezia twitched, once, twice.

"What's happening?", Liara asked, though she already knew.

"We are running out of time", Jaden said, then he looked at Benezia and said: "I am sorry."

"You have to stop me!", she was practically pleading at this point "I.. I c.. can't stop him."

"Mother!", Liara's voice was full of sorrow "Don't leave! Fight him!"

As a last act as herself, Benezia looked directly at Liara, saying: "You always made me proud, Liara."

Benezia was going to bring up her biotics again to attack Shepard and the others. But Jaden, who still had his hand on her shoulder, sapped the biotic power from her.

Unable to attack, the matriarch simply fell against the tank.

"I cannot go on.", Benezia stated. "You will have to stop him, Shepard."

Even though Shepard knew it probably wouldn't work, she went on: "Hold on. We got medi-gel, maybe.."

"No. I'm not myself. I will never be."

Jaden said, with anger in his voice: "From Saren's... or Sovereign's perspective, she has now served her purpose. They have only one thing left for her." He looked at Benezia and added: "We will not forget your sacrifice, Matriarch Benezia."

"Mother...", Liara started.

"Goodnight Little Wing, I will see you again with the dawn." She collapsed. As her last words she said: "No light. They always said there would be...", only silence remained.

Jaden even brought up his omni-tool and scanned her. He shook his head. Benezia was gone.

Liara fell next to Benezia and she finally broke down.

Shepard decided it would be best to let Liara be, even if only for a moment.

* * *

She went to look at the Rachni Queen.

Once she got close enough, the Queen screeched at her. She jumped back.

"Wait." Jaden said and placed his hand on the tank. "The Queen can speak through me now."

And not a moment sooner a voice echoed in the lab. It seemed to originate from Jaden, but it wasn't his voice. It was as if he had turned into a loudspeaker.

The Queen then began to tell about herself. How she came to be on Noveria, what was done to her.  
When asked why the Rachni were killing people, the Queen told that their connection to her had been severed, which turned them into mindless monsters.  
Something like that would be akin to leaving a child in the closet for years.  
The Queen asked Shepard to end their suffering. But before that, Shepard would have to decide the Queen's fate.  
The tanks around the Queen were filled with acid, potent enough to dissolve anything.  
When Shepard asked the others, some were in favor, particularly Wrex. While others, like Liara, who had been able to raise her head to look at the queen, said that the Krogan were allowed to go too far.

Jaden added, with his own voice: "In the end, should it comes to that, every species fights for its survival. She is the last Queen, she would not risk her species in mindless attacks against others."

Both sides had valid points, but Shepard needed to hear from the Queen herself.

"If we free you, will you attack other civilizations?", she asked.

"No. We do not know what happened in the war. We were only an egg. Then we awoke in this place."

"What will you do if we free you?"

"We would seek a hidden place, to teach our children."

Shepard felt like this was too much for her to decide alone, but in a way, she had already decided: "I won't destroy your entire race. You go free."

"You will give us the chance to compose anew? We will remember."

Shepard pressed the button that would release the Queen.

"You must leave quickly", Jaden told the Queen. "This facility will be purged soon."

The Queen left as fast as she could.

* * *

"Garrus, Tali, Wrex, get to the hot labs and set off the neutron purge.", Shepard ordered.

They left.

"Rest of us, we need to get to the tram. Liara..?"

"No." Liara wouldn't leave her mother.

"Liara listen.", Jaden started: "We have to. Go."

"No!", she almost yelled, tears still flowing. "I won't leave her! Not in here!"

"Then.. we won't leave her here." Jaden said and lifted Benezia's body of the floor and walked towards the exit that would take them to the tram. That was enough to get Liara to follow them.

* * *

At the tram station, they waited for a moment, until Garrus, Tali and Wrex arrived.

"It's done", Tali said.

"Time to go then", Shepard responded.

"Are we taking...?", Tali asked and looked at Benezia's body. But She also didn't want to offend Liara.

"We should return her to the asari government, make sure she gets a proper funeral.", Shepard answered.

"In the end, she was on our side", Jaden added. "And gave her life so we could have a chance."

After very lengthy travel, they finally got back to the Normandy and left Noveria.

* * *

Before the meeting, Shepard filed her report for the Council and contacted them.

Their attitude towards her was still sub-par, so again she cut them off.

The meeting was a very quiet, until Ashley broke the silence:

"What's the next step? Head for the Mu relay?"

"No point.", Shepard said "It leads to dozens of different systems, we wouldn't know where to look."

"Now what?", Garrus asked.

"We still have one lead.", Shepard said and explained the private call she had received from the salarian Councillor after the Feros mission. "Virmire."

"But now, I think we all need some time to gather ourselves. Dismissed."

Liara was the first to leave, without saying a word.

Tali expressed her concern: "Should someone go and talk to Liara? She just lost her mother, no one walks away from something like that unscathed."

"I'll go", Shepard said.

"You might be the best person right now.", Jaden remarked. He had quickly noticed that after coming onboard the Normandy, Shepard and Liara had gotten close. And they had gotten closer with each passing mission.

And she did. After knocking, she entered Liara's cabin. Liara slowly walked towards Shepard, who then hugged Liara tightly. Then, Liara let it all out.

* * *

 **Notes**

* * *

 _Noveria done._

 _The standoff between Benezia and Jaden, i kind of tried to make it slightly reminiscent to the standoff between Samara and Morinth in ME2_

 _I found the 'i cant stop him i.. i c... DIE' sequence quite funny but also stupid at the same time. With Jaden having sapped the remaining biotic power, she had served her purpose for Saren and Sovereign._


	10. Time off

Chapter 10: Time off

* * *

The Normandy approached the Citadel. Shepard felt that they needed some time off, even if just a little. They also had other matters to attend to at the Citadel.

At this point, Liara had at least partially gotten over the events of Noveria; Instead of confining herself to her cabin, she now focused on the missions with unprecedented determination.

Perhaps, as a way to take her mind off Noveria, she also focused on her weapons training with even greater tenacity.

Under Jaden's and Shepard's tutelage, she had gotten very proficient with pistols and had moved onto assault rifles. She also tried shotguns and sniper rifles, though she felt they were too bulky for her.  
Combined with her biotics, she was now truly a force to be reckoned with, as was found out when she and Shepard helped Garrus and Wrex on their personal matter.

Tali had joined these training sessions as well. She had grown very fond of shotguns. Wrex clearly approved as he was more than happy to show her how it is done.

When Shepard asked Jaden about dual wielding, he explained: "Essentially, you trade precision and handling for increased firepower. While experience will allow one to partially overcome the loss of precision and handling, it is never quite like handling a single weapon. And you should not try dual wielding any larger weapons."

Wrex stepped forward.

"Hah, I'll prove you wrong!", Wrex threw in and took two shotguns into his hands and fired both at one of the targets. The pellets splattered all over the place, with large portion of them hitting the target next to the one Wrex aimed at.

"In my opinion, you still lack precision.", Jaden calmly stated, took two pistols into his hands and quickly fired at his target until the pistols overheated. The group he shot into the target was extremely tight. He then continued:

"But really. Dual wielding is mostly for show. There are very few circumstances where it is useful."

At this point Joker interrupted over the comm: "Two minutes to Citadel, Commander."

"Allright." Shepard said. "Clear down."

They cleared all the weapons and targets.

* * *

The Normandy docked.

"Uhh, Commander, there is an Admiral waiting for you. Rear Admiral Mikhailovich.", Joker continued.

"I can sense him", Jaden told Shepard, when they approached the cockpit. "He is full of pretense."

"Figures." Shepard replied. "But.. don't do anything to him. He's still an Alliance Admiral."

"I won't."

Shepard walked up to Mikhailovich and saluted. The Admiral then explained who he was and expressed his dislike for the 'expensive piece of tin', that was the Normandy.  
The Alliance had spent billions on it, while they could have used it to built another heavy cruiser.  
After the shakedown run on Eden Prime, the Normandy was supposed to be assigned under his command.  
But instead of that, Shepard was given the command of the Normandy, when she became a Spectre.

As the Admiral was supposed gain command of the Normandy and because it was still an Alliance ship, he demanded to make an inspection to the ship.

Shepard, who had enough of him discrediting her ship, denied this, with her status as a Spectre.

Mikhailovich was furious. But he couldn't go above a Spectre, so he threatened to report this and left.

* * *

Following the Admiral's departure, Shepard and the others restocked supplies and then went on to visit with various people, like one particular fan and another Admiral, Kahoku.

Afterwards they had the remaining day off. They would leave for Virmire tomorrow.

In his cabin, Jaden placed his Detonators and the Thunderbolt into one of the lockers. In the Citadel, he would only carry his energy swords. He remembered the curious looks from few of the C-sec officers when he first joined Shepard's team. It would be a distraction to have them follow him.

The door opened, revealing Shepard, this time in a more casual outfit.

"Ah, Commander", Jaden started with his usual demeanor.

"We are going to go get some real food, instead of the military junk." She started. "Afterwards we're going to go visit the 'Starlite' -nightclub. I know you don't need to, but are you coming with us?"

"Unfortunately I will have to pass."

"You sure? I kinda feel bad leaving you out."

"I will have to pass, because I have another matter to attend to at the Citadel."

"You're not going to go after someone again...?"

"No. If I went after every single mugger or drug dealer, I would not have been able to join your crew in the first place. There is something I actually need to get."

"Oh.. Okay"

"But really, do not worry. You go on without me and have fun. Just try to not drink too much."

"Can't promise.", Shepard replied with a smile and left.

* * *

Jaden waited until the others had left. He then brought up his omni-tool and pointed it at the locker where he had put his weapons. The locker vanished. He then exited the Normandy as well.

He made his way to his apartment, or safe-house, that he would use whenever he stayed in the Citadel.  
Once there, he contacted one of his old acquaintances from the Terminus Systems.

This acquaintance of his could get anything, anywhere, unnoticed. And now, he needed something.

His package would be ready in a few hours.

In the meantime, he simply gazed out of the windows, his hands behind his back and observed the flow of traffic.

Few hours later, he went to retrieve the package.

The retrieval went without any problems, he then began to make his way back to the Normandy.  
He got onto the elevator. As the elevator moved up, he simply leaned against the wall, with the metallic box on the floor by his feet.

* * *

Shepard and the others really needed this. The 'real food' was a refreshing change and in the nightclub they could let loose.

Garrus, Kaidan and Liara weren't much of a drinker types, so they left after couple of rounds of drinks.

Shepard herself stayed with the remaining group, as she partially felt she was responsible for them. She was their Commander after all.

Wrex really liked his ryncol.

Ashley and Tali were the ones who really wanted to let loose. In the end they had a drinking contest against one another.  
After the contest, they were barely able to stand, so Shepard and Wrex needed to provide support for them.

* * *

They got to the elevator that would take them back to the Normandy.  
At first they thought the elevator was empty, until they noticed a pair of glowing white eyes in one of the corners.

"Good damn, Jaden?" Shepard asked.

"In the flesh", came the reply from the darkness. Next to Jaden's feet there was a metallic box.

Ashley or Tali didn't seem to realize he was there.

"Ah, listen, Ashley and Tali had a drinking contest. Care to help with them a bit?"

"It might be best if I did."

Finally, Ashley noticed Jaden.

"Heyyyyy Jaaadeeen... Wwwant a drrrink?", Ashley slurred, barely able to stand.

"I will pass", he replied calmly.

At this point Tali tripped on seemingly nothing. Jaden caught her with his powers before she fell.

"Hehehhehe, you're soooo funnnyyyy." Tali giggled.

"Yes, yes. I am a very funny dark figure." Jaden tried to sound annoyed and indifferent, but Shepard could recognize slight amusement in his voice.

The elevator finally arrived to the Normandy docks. Jaden lifted the metallic box and took it with him.

After getting Ashley and Tali into their cabins, which wasn't an easy task, Shepard asked:

"Is that box what you were getting?"

"Yes.", Jaden opened the box, revealing partially transparent Detonator crystals.

"Blank crystals", he explained "I've used my Detonators quite a bit more than what I did before joining your crew."

"You know, you could have just told me. As a Spectre I could have arranged them to you without a problem."

"You could not have done it discreetly. An old acquaintance of mine can."

"I thought you don't really work with anyone else?"

"I do not. Not directly."

"And a 'discreet' acquaintance? You mean a smuggler?"

"Possibly.

Jaden refused to elaborate further and Shepard knew it was pointless to try to pry answers from him. She just hoped Jaden knew what he was doing. He probably did but still.

They entered their own cabins. Jaden brought up his omni-tool and the locker with his other weapons appeared, untouched. He then got to work and began to modify the blank crystals.

The next day, the Normandy departed for Virmire.

* * *

 **Notes**

* * *

 _A short one this time.  
_

 _Of course they needed to take some time off after all that has been going on with Ontarom, Noveria and on the some of their smaller tasks.  
_

 _I'm not very good at imitating drunken behavior, so apologies._

 _Although Saren is supposed to be way ahead of Shepard (and thus it would be a bad idea to take time off), i always like to think that Saren's progress at finding the conduit is noticeably slower than Shepard's (Might be because he doesn't have Liara to help him).  
Or he's deliberately waiting on Virmire for Shepard, to either try to convert her on his side or to eliminate her._

 _I never really liked_ _Mikhailovich. When i saw him for the first time i got a really strong "i'm an Admiral, worship me" -feeling from him._

 _There is nothing sinister about Jaden's special delivery, he just wants to stay as discreet as possible.  
And his 'safe-house' is quite a secret. No one really knows about it._

* * *

 _ **Pteaset:** Glad to hear you like it. Let's hope this remains likable .p **  
**_


End file.
